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Do Teenagers Really Make Bad Decisions?

- Stacey A. Bedwell

Scientists have known for a long time that decision making is associated with the prefrontal cortex, so it is no surprise that the way we make decisions changes as our prefrontal cortex develops. Because the prefrontal cortex keeps developing until our early twenties, our decision-making abilities are not fully mature until well into adulthood!
The prolonged development of decision-making networks does not mean that we are unable to make decisions until we are adults. We all know that children and teenagers make decisions about things every day. For instance, you decided to read this article, you decide who your friends are, what games you play, what clothes you want to wear, what TV shows you want to watch, and what you want for dinner. But, certain types of decisions do need this extra time to develop. It is these decisions that give teenagers a reputation as risk takers.

License information: nan
MPAA: G
Go to source: https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2017.00053

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