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andeaclark's review against another edition
4.0
This was a highly readable book about the differences in the brains of adolescents vs children and adults. The brain goes through a lot of changes and that correlates with the changes in behavior and risk taking we often see in teenagers. The author encourages us to see adolescence as a unique time when the brain changes a lot and not think of it as a deficient time. Adolescents are not just “bad” adults. The chapters are short and full of research that is easy to understand. I really enjoyed this book.
bookwormoftheskies's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
As far as I can tell from reviews on this site, I’m the only adolescent on StoryGraph that’s read this. (I’m 17) Does this mean you should value my opinion more? I don’t know, but according to the book, if you’re my age you will, and if you’re an adult, you’ll discredit me (this review isn’t that cohesive, so I probably can’t fault you)
This was your classic informative book, and I found it to be quite enjoyable. The author doesn’t harbor a bias against adolescents, which was quite refreshing, as pathology of adolescents and younger children is high among adults, even as they still exhibit behaviors they find repulsive in younger populations, albeit in smaller quantities.
One of the central themes in this book is that adolescents are more prone to social convincing. When paired with books like Humankind or selection of the friendliest, which are about humanity’s reliance on social interaction, it invokes thought about the role of adolescence in human success (I’m referring to our prolific-ness and organization (cities)), which I can’t find much research on.
This was your classic informative book, and I found it to be quite enjoyable. The author doesn’t harbor a bias against adolescents, which was quite refreshing, as pathology of adolescents and younger children is high among adults, even as they still exhibit behaviors they find repulsive in younger populations, albeit in smaller quantities.
One of the central themes in this book is that adolescents are more prone to social convincing. When paired with books like Humankind or selection of the friendliest, which are about humanity’s reliance on social interaction, it invokes thought about the role of adolescence in human success (I’m referring to our prolific-ness and organization (cities)), which I can’t find much research on.
libble_co's review against another edition
5.0
This goes over a lot of research on teenage brain development; many studies were interesting, though the skeptic in me didn't buy all of the studies or wanted more detail. Not a ton of surprises here, but I do have a better understanding that teens will do anything for the approval of their friends. Also, adolescent mice will drink more alcohol than non-adolescent mice...fun to see this commonality with our rodent friends.
tylerahn's review against another edition
5.0
Incredibly valuable reading for anyone who works with or is raising adolescents.
africker's review against another edition
3.0
Not a huge number of surprises - but interesting to see how research is starting to back things that we might expect. Was very interested in the discussion of the marshmallow test and the impact of trust within this.
cmloia's review against another edition
4.0
A in-depth exploration of the neuroscience of the developing adolescent brain. I'd recommend it for anyone who spends significant time with adolescents - whether in a parental role, work role or something else.
**and now for the part of the review where I just put quotes I liked**
"This calls into question the claim made by some education policy-makers that entry tests for selective schools that include non-verbal reasoning assess the true potential of every child, which is fixed and possibly innate. On the contrary, this is a skill that can readily be trained and improved." (95)
"Thus it seems that the way the brain enables us to pay attention to a non-salient object in the presence of something attention-grabbing but irrelevant is still undergoing development between adolescence and adulthood. This fits eith the possibility that adolescents find it challenging to focus on a task at hand in the presence of emotionally salient and distracting stimuli..." (131)
**and now for the part of the review where I just put quotes I liked**
"This calls into question the claim made by some education policy-makers that entry tests for selective schools that include non-verbal reasoning assess the true potential of every child, which is fixed and possibly innate. On the contrary, this is a skill that can readily be trained and improved." (95)
"Thus it seems that the way the brain enables us to pay attention to a non-salient object in the presence of something attention-grabbing but irrelevant is still undergoing development between adolescence and adulthood. This fits eith the possibility that adolescents find it challenging to focus on a task at hand in the presence of emotionally salient and distracting stimuli..." (131)
emlo's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Really interesting book on the teenage brain. It's quite heavy on the neuroscience in places which took a minute to process. I think this book should have profound consequences for mental health provision for young people - it would be great to see services like CAMHS extended to 25 years rather than cut at 18.