Page 161 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Training Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 161
neuroscientific findings concerning education ...
to conduct an action at a future time) is also associated with frontal lobe
activity (Burgess, Veitch, Costello, & Shallice, 2000) and has been shown
to develop through childhood as we develop our future-oriented thought
and action (Ellis & Kvavilashvili, 2000). The ability to multitask is known
to be a test of prospective memory because it requires a person to remem-
ber to perform several different tasks, mirroring everyday life. In a study
of the development of prospective memory from childhood to adulthood
(Mackinlay, Charman, & Karmiloff-Smith, 2003), a significant improve-
ment in both the efficiency and quality of strategies was found between the
ages of 6 and 10. However, between the ages of 10 and 14, there was no sig-
nificant change in performance. The adult group (mean age 25), on the oth-
er hand, significantly outperformed the children. The authors argued that
prospective memory continues to develop during adolescence and that it is
possible that the lack of improvement in performance between the 10- and
14-year-olds is related to their pubertal period that sees structural changes
occur in the brain (Mackinlay et al., 2003). Similar results were found in a
study (McGivern, Andersen, Byrd, Mutter, & Reilly, 2002) that investigat-
ed the development of working memory and decision-making (functions of
the frontal lobe) during childhood through to adolescence and adulthood.
The results reveal that at the age of puberty, at 11–12 years, there was a de-
cline in performance compared with the younger group of children. The re-
sults suggest there is a dip in performance for such functions in the period
of puberty. After puberty, from 13–14 years, performance improved again
until it reached the pre-pubescent level at around the age of 16–17. The au-
thors explain this pubertal dip in performance with the proliferation of
synapses that results in perturbation of cognitive performance during ad-
olescence. Only later, after puberty1, do the excess synapses become refined
into specialised, efficient networks, thus a post-pubescent further improve-
ment (McGivern et al., 2002).
It is thus important for teachers to remember that even though teen-
age brains are learning at their peak efficiency, another considerable part of
them is performing inefficiently (in some cases even less so than in child-
hood), including attention, self-discipline, task completion, and emotions.
Accordingly, it is perhaps more reasonable to not overwhelm teenage stu-
dents with too much instruction at any one time. Although they may look
1 Puberty is the process of physical changes by which adolescents reach sexual ma-
turity, i.e. become capable of reproduction. Puberty refers to these bodily changes,
while adolescence is the period of psychological and social transition between child-
hood and adulthood (that also includes puberty).
161
to conduct an action at a future time) is also associated with frontal lobe
activity (Burgess, Veitch, Costello, & Shallice, 2000) and has been shown
to develop through childhood as we develop our future-oriented thought
and action (Ellis & Kvavilashvili, 2000). The ability to multitask is known
to be a test of prospective memory because it requires a person to remem-
ber to perform several different tasks, mirroring everyday life. In a study
of the development of prospective memory from childhood to adulthood
(Mackinlay, Charman, & Karmiloff-Smith, 2003), a significant improve-
ment in both the efficiency and quality of strategies was found between the
ages of 6 and 10. However, between the ages of 10 and 14, there was no sig-
nificant change in performance. The adult group (mean age 25), on the oth-
er hand, significantly outperformed the children. The authors argued that
prospective memory continues to develop during adolescence and that it is
possible that the lack of improvement in performance between the 10- and
14-year-olds is related to their pubertal period that sees structural changes
occur in the brain (Mackinlay et al., 2003). Similar results were found in a
study (McGivern, Andersen, Byrd, Mutter, & Reilly, 2002) that investigat-
ed the development of working memory and decision-making (functions of
the frontal lobe) during childhood through to adolescence and adulthood.
The results reveal that at the age of puberty, at 11–12 years, there was a de-
cline in performance compared with the younger group of children. The re-
sults suggest there is a dip in performance for such functions in the period
of puberty. After puberty, from 13–14 years, performance improved again
until it reached the pre-pubescent level at around the age of 16–17. The au-
thors explain this pubertal dip in performance with the proliferation of
synapses that results in perturbation of cognitive performance during ad-
olescence. Only later, after puberty1, do the excess synapses become refined
into specialised, efficient networks, thus a post-pubescent further improve-
ment (McGivern et al., 2002).
It is thus important for teachers to remember that even though teen-
age brains are learning at their peak efficiency, another considerable part of
them is performing inefficiently (in some cases even less so than in child-
hood), including attention, self-discipline, task completion, and emotions.
Accordingly, it is perhaps more reasonable to not overwhelm teenage stu-
dents with too much instruction at any one time. Although they may look
1 Puberty is the process of physical changes by which adolescents reach sexual ma-
turity, i.e. become capable of reproduction. Puberty refers to these bodily changes,
while adolescence is the period of psychological and social transition between child-
hood and adulthood (that also includes puberty).
161
