Pubertal development of the understanding of social emotions: Implications for education

Recent developmental cognitive neuroscience research has supported the notion that puberty and adolescence are periods of profound socio-emotional development. The current study was designed to investigate whether the onset of puberty marks an increase in the awareness of complex, or “mixed,” emotions. Eighty-three female participants (aged 9–16 years) were divided into three groups according to a self-report measure of puberty stage (early-, mid- and post-puberty). Participants were presented with emotional scenarios, and used four linear scales to rate their emotional response to each scenario. Scenarios were designed to evoke social emotions (embarrassment or guilt) or basic emotions (anger or fear), where social emotions are defined as those which require the representation of others' mental states. We measured the relative complexity or “mixedness” of emotional responses, that is, the degree to which participants reported feeling more than one emotion for a given scenario. We found that mixed emotion reporting increased between early- and post-puberty for social emotion scenarios, and showed no relationship with age, whereas there was no change in mixed emotion reporting for basic emotion scenarios across age or puberty groups. This suggests that the awareness of mixed emotions develops during the course of puberty, and that this development is specific to social emotions. Results are discussed in the context of brain development across puberty and adolescence, with speculation regarding the potential implications for education.     

The effect of ball carrying method on sprint speed in rugby union football players

Different methods of ball carrying can be used when a player runs with the ball in rugby union. We examined how three methods of ball carrying influenced sprinting speed: using both hands, under the left arm and under the right arm. These methods were compared with running without the ball. Our aim was to determine which method of ball carrying optimizes sprinting speed. Altogether, 48 rugby union players (age 21±2 years, height 1.83±0.1?m, body mass 85.3±12?kg, body fat 14?±?5%; mean±s) were recruited. The players performed twelve 30-m sprints in total (each player performed three trials under each of three methods of carrying the ball and sprinting without the ball). The design of the study was a form of Latin rectangle, balanced across the trial order for each of the methods and for pairwise combinations of the methods in blocks of four per trial. Each sprint consisted of a 10-m rolling start, followed by a 20-m timed section using electronic timing gates. Compared with sprinting 20?m without the ball (2.58±0.16?s), using both hands (2.62±0.16?s) led to a significantly slower time (P?<0.05). Sprinting 20?m with the ball under the left arm (2.61±0.15?s) or under the right arm (2.60± 0.17?s) was significantly quicker than when using ‘both hands’ (P?<0.05), and both these methods were significantly slower than when running without the ball (P?<0.05). Accordingly, running with the ball in both hands led to the greatest decrement in sprinting performance, although carrying the ball under one arm also reduced the players' sprinting ability. Our results indicate that to gain a speed advantage players should carry the ball under one arm.     

The high-school dropout decision and its wage consequences

The purpose of this study is to investigate the wage consequences of leaving high school prior to graduation. The dropout process is modeled as interdependent events involving the dropout decision itself and expected wage offers. Since selectivity biases may occur in such models, our empirical analysis permits adjustment for any such biases. Our empirical results provide support for the existence of a self-selection bias in the initial work experiences following high school. We also find that wages for dropouts progressively decline in subsequent years relative to high-school graduates.     

Development of the Teenage Brain

ABSTRACT— Adolescence is a time characterized by change—hormonally, physically, and mentally. We now know that some brain areas, particularly the frontal cortex, continue to develop well beyond childhood. There are two main changes with puberty. First, there is an increase in axonal myelination, which increases transmission speed. Second, there is a gradual decrease in synaptic density, indicating significant pruning of connections. These neural changes make it likely that cognitive abilities relying on the frontal cortex, such as executive functions and social-cognitive abilities, also change during adolescence. Here, we review recent research that has demonstrated development during adolescence of a variety of social-cognitive abilities and their neural correlates.