Why Do We Do the Things We Do?

Welcome to Julie Rubini, whose dedication to children's literacy is well recognized across Ohio! Julie's new book is all about the teenage brain.....

My latest book, Psychology: Why We Smile, Strive and Sing explores the WHY behind behavior and choices, written for teens. How cool is that?

I wish I had a book like this when I was a teenager. It would have helped me understand all the different factors involved in choices, including my home environment, genetic history, friends, peer pressure, and, the area I found most fascinating, the teenage brain.

Scientists are doing some amazing work in studying the teenage brain, including the exciting functional MRI testing. The test involves recording what happens, or doesn’t happen in a teenager’s brain, based on various stimuli. For example, while a subject’s brain is being studied using functional MRI testing, scientists may show the subject scary photographs, to see how the amygdala, the part of the brain that perceives and regulates fear, responds. Or, scientists will record how teens’ prefrontal cortexes respond to simulated situations when the teenage subjects believe they are being watched. The prefrontal cortex is the area of the brain that involves reasoning and making judgments and decisions.

These studies help us understand the role the development of the brain has in teen behavior. But that is only one part of the equation.

Why does one teen, perhaps feeling anxious about a test, stay up all night and study, while another stays up all night playing video games? Why does one teen stand up to a bully picking on a friend, while another walks away? Why has one teen explored new talents during Covid-19 shelter at home restrictions, while another rages at the inability to do anything?

Psychology: Why We Smile, Strive and Sing explores the topic of psychology for teens, and reviews all of the various elements involved in reactions, behavior, and choices to help them understand why they do the things they do.

Experiment:

As peer pressure is significant in the lives of teens, the following experiment studies conformity, the influence of groups. The Asch Conformity Tests proved that, on average, a third of a group would answer a question incorrectly, based on the influence of others, even when they knew otherwise.

Try this test to see if results compare with the Asch Conformity Tests.

Recruit a few friends to stand in a shopping mall. They should just stand and look at the ceiling.

Make a simple grid in a notebook and record how many people stop and stare with the group within 15 minutes. How many pass by without participating in the behavior? Record these results and compare your study to the Asch Conformity Tests. Did a third of the people walking past in the mall look up to the ceiling as well?

Julie K. Rubini loves to writing stories about incredible women and intriguing subjects for young readers. Julie’s newest work is Psychology: Why We Smile, Strive and Sing, helping teenagers understand the science behind their behavior. Julie’s other works include, Eye to Eye: Sports Journalist Christine Brennan, Missing Millie Benson: The Secret Case of the Nancy Drew Ghostwriter and Journalist, and Virginia Hamilton: America’s Storyteller, which received a Kirkus starred review and listed on Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books, outstanding merit.

Julie and her husband Brad established Claire’s Day, a children’s book festival in honor of their daughter. A highlight of the festival is the C.A.R.E. Awards, given to children selected as the most improved readers in their schools.

Visit www.julierubini.com or www.clairesday.org to learn more!