Understanding the teenage brain, with Eva Telzer, PhD

Speaking of Psychology

Kim Mills

Health & Fitness, Life Sciences, Science, Mental Health

4.3 • 781 Ratings

🗓️ 24 August 2022

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There’s a common stereotype is that teenagers’ brains are immature and underdeveloped, and that teens are “hard-wired” to take unwise risks and cave to peer pressure. But psychologists’ research suggests these negative stereotypes are unfounded and that the teen years are a time opportunity and growth as well as risk. Eva Telzer, PhD, explains why teens take more risks and why that risk-taking is sometimes beneficial, why parents have more influence than they think, and how social media and other technology use may be affecting teens’ behavior and development. Links Eva Telzer, PhD Speaking of Psychology Home Page Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:27.6	There may be no stage in life that's more maligned than adolescence.
0:32.5	When people think of teenagers, the words that may come to mind include moody, impulsive, risk-taking, and self-centered. In the movies on teenagers, the words that may come to mind include moody, impulsive, risk-taking, and self-centered.
0:40.6	In the movies, on TV and in our imaginations, teenagers drive too fast, they experiment with drugs
0:46.5	and alcohol, and they cave to peer pressure to take other unwise risks. Looking back,
0:52.2	many of us probably remember doing a few of those things ourselves
0:55.2	when we were teens. And teenage brains, so the stereotype goes, are driving these actions. These
1:01.9	brains just haven't developed enough for young people to make good decisions. But researchers
1:06.6	are increasingly finding that this negative view of the adolescent brain is inaccurate and incomplete.
1:12.4	Yes, teenagers are still a work in progress, but the brain changes that mark adolescents
1:17.2	make it a time of great opportunity and growth as well as risk. So what is happening in the
1:22.5	teenage brain? Do adolescents take more risks than other age groups and is that risk taking
1:27.4	always bad?
1:29.1	Who has more influence over teens' behavior, their parents or their peers?
1:33.6	Are teens really more self-centered than adults?
1:37.2	And how might social media and other technology use be changing teens' behavior and development?
	...

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