PSY101

Investigation 1: Helping Teens Make Decisions

Due Week 3 and worth 40 points

Investigation Summary

Why do teens struggle to make good decisions, especially in social situations? How does

their social and physical development influence their ability to assess risk? And what can

parents do to help?

To answer these questions, you will be applying concepts related to the brain, personality,

and development in this three-part assignment in your Webtext.

• Part 1: How Can We Help Teens Make Good Decisions? In the first section, you

will review key concepts from Chapters 1-3 and then dig deeper into the biology of

the teen brain by watching an excerpt of Sarah-Jane Blakemore’s TED Talk.

• Part 2: Why Teenagers Make Risky Decisions In the second section, you will read

an article from Psychology Today to determine how the social environment

affects teenagers’ decision making.

• Part 3: Apply What You’ve Learned In the final section, you will read a scenario in

which parents are trying to help their teenager learn to make good decisions. You

will craft advice for the parents based on key concepts from the Webtext.

Instructions

To complete this week’s investigation, return to your webtext. The investigation is located

at the end of Chapter 3 and is graded automatically.

Note: Only one reset attempt is allowed on the investigation activity.