You worry about your teen’s performance at school. The latest math test was a complete fiasco. It certainly is difficult to deal with a rebellious 14-year old and knowing how to act in the case of poor grades is very important.
Many parents start feeling uncertain about the teen’s ability to learn and utilize logically new skills, even if the kid did brilliantly during early school years. A study, however, explains the mental development of teenagers and the changes that take place as time passes. According to the study, age plays an important role in terms of intelligence growth.
Scientists from the University of Texas believe that as they grow up, teenagers become smarter. This statement is here to bring comfort to all of the troubled parents who have difficulties coping with the performance of teenagers at school.
The study involved 7000 young individuals aged 13 to 17. These teen took part in tests and tasks that were designed to measure their intelligence and a factor known as mental speed. University of Texas research confirms that as they grow older, teens experience an increase in the mental speed.
Mental speed grows as teens become older. This change in results leads to faster problem solving and effortless completion of tests.
Intelligence is very much connected to the speed with which the brain tackles tasks and problems. The higher this speed is, the quicker problem solving becomes. The study is very important, since it is the first one to establish such a connection.
Results of the test appeared in the Psychological Science Journal. The intelligence of teens got tested in a variety of ways, including math problem solving, vocabulary tasks and mechanical comprehension.
The older teenagers managed to perform better on all types of tests. This included both cognitive tests and timed tests. There was nothing left for scientists but to conclude that the increase in intelligence resulted entirely from the improvements of mental speed that children experienced as they grew up.
Other studies establish a connection between brain evolution and intelligence. In other words, teenagers today are considered to be much smarter than previous generations.
Psychologists believe that children today are making smarter decisions at an earlier age. Violence in schools has generally decreased. The same applies to the number of drug takers or children getting involved in riskier activities.
Naturally, each generation has its specifics and could be never compared with another one. Children of today are exposed to many influences that their parents are just getting used to. All these factors are certainly playing a role in the mental development of young individuals.
Do you believe that teenagers of today are smarter? Are you worried by the performance of your teenager in school and do you believe that the findings of scientists from the University of Texas are reasonable?
Teenagers will always be there to take risks, to make mistakes and to learn from the foolish choices that they make. Is intelligence a hereditary factor, a function of experience or something connected to the manner in which the human brain perceives information? Researchers are yet to find out.