The Tween Brain | Brain Games

While it might be easy to recognize twins growing older, predicting what their brains will do is not so simple. To gain insight to the tween brain, we're asking people on the boardwalk some questions about good and bad ideas.

Is it a good idea to eat salad? How about bugs with ice cream? Is it a good idea to go to the gym and workout?

"I think eating ice cream with bugs on it is a horrible idea. Going to the gym is a good idea. It's a good idea to eat salads."

These questions might seem easy, even obvious, but it's not what you answer but how you answered that says a lot about what stage of life your brain might be at. Young children generally answered quickly, based on rules they've learned from grown-ups.

"What do you think about swimming in water where there might be some sharks?"

Grown-ups, of course, have learned these rules over a lifetime and also answer quickly as a terrible idea.

"I think it's a terrible idea swimming in water where you see sharks. All you want to be is fish bait."

But things are different with the tween brain.

"What do you think about maybe swimming with sharks?"

"I mean, they're not naturally going to like hurt you."

"Okay, you're on the fence as well?"

"Yeah, they wouldn't be intimate. They just mistake you for something else, like a seal."

"Swimming with sharks? Seriously?"

Why aren't our tweens outright rejecting a bad idea? We often criticize tweens for acting out of self-centeredness, but these girls are doing something that much younger girls aren't. They're exploring their options.

In between years, in the very beginning of adolescence, "the world's yours, the possibilities are infinite," almost like another toddlerhood in terms of the explosion of independent thought.

"They become super self-centered," is the sort of idea, right? And the thing is, if you look a little more closely, it might look like they're being self-centered on the surface.

"Yeah, but they're actually being hyper-vigilant. They're being aware of themselves in context, hmm, considering the possibility," right?

Which is a really important part of learning about the world. You got to consider the possibilities. Fascinating, surprising, right? What we think of as preteens being self-centered might actually be your early adolescent brain doing its due diligence, making decisions not from selfishness but from taking the time to consider all of your options and everyone else's point of view.