Risky Behavior: Take a Risk and Read This!

I think class this week was very interesting. Learning about how human brains are wired to minimize threats and maximize rewards was something that I was able to get a good grip on. We read this story about a high school girl who had too much to drink at a party and she got expelled. This story really helped with my understanding of why teens do risky actions because it talked about the adolescent brain. As I was reading the story, there was one quote that really stood out to me. It said, “Even though the negative consequences, the cons are fully known, we place more emphasis on the potential positive aspects, the pros.” I feel like I can personally connect to this. Sometimes before I do something, I look at the outcomes of the action. I look at both the positive and negative outcomes.

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After reading the girl’s experience I realized that I do the same thing. I usually focus on the positive outcome of whatever action I plan on doing rather than the negative outcome. The story also helped me learn why people tend to ignore the negative outcomes of their actions. People tend to focus more on the negative outcomes of their actions because of the drive for reward. There are three ways that an adolescent's brain has an increased drive for reward. It’s because of impulsiveness, addiction, and hyper-rationality. Our class got into 3 groups, and each group was assigned a different behavior that they had to act out. The acting out really helped me visualize what the three behaviors look like in a social climate. A wondering I have is about the behaviors in the adolescent brain. Which of the 3 behaviors is the one that occurs the most?