Nancy Darling, PHD has recently released a very interesting article about research released on the Teenage brain. In her article in Psychology Today, she summarises the work of development psychologist, Laurence Steinberg, who argues the rate of development of the Incentive Processing area compared with the Impulse control area in the teen brain occur differently.
The Impulse control area develops much slower than the Incentive Processing Area which is sensitised right after puberty, meaning risky behaviours are experienced by teens as more rewarding.
The simple message is that teens will be considerably more motivated by pleasure (eg how good it feels to accomplish something) than fear of negative consequences (eg failing an exam).
It is an interesting study which may fashion better (and more effective) communication with teens. For an accessible summary of the research see http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/thinking-about-kids/201110/teens-respond-pleasure-not-pain-parent-accordingly
No comments:
Post a Comment