Risky behaviour
The findings explain why some adolescents are so nonchalant when it comes to risky behaviours, says Kathrin Cohen Kadosh, at the University of Surrey, UK. Teenagers are much more likely to drive dangerously, for instance, especially when one of their friends is nearby.
Stefano Palminteri, at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, France, thinks schools should reconsider the way they test performance in adolescents. ‘This study suggests it’s not a good idea to evaluate school performance in a single final exam,’ he says. A better idea would be to use a variety of smaller tests, conducted throughout the year.
It’s not all bad news for teens, adds Palminteri. ‘We could look at this the other way around,’ he says. ‘Adolescents put the same amount of effort into tasks that aren’t ‘important’, and start to prefer hobbies to school.’
‘It could be a good thing, allowing teenagers to learn complex social skills, for example,’ he says.
Based on: www.newscientist.com