Chapter 1. Do Adolescents Lack Empathy?

Short Description

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have studied the ability of teenagers and adults to read facial expressions of emotion.

Long Description

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have studied the ability of teenagers and adults to read facial expressions of emotion. Adults have no difficulty correctly interpreting the emotions reflected in photographs of faces. Do teens?

As Patrick, a 16-year-old, views facial expressions of fear, researchers view his brain by using functional MRI. Patrick reports the faces as reflecting anger, surprise, or sadness. He does not see a single face as showing fear. Indeed, most of the teens studied did not recognize the emotions reflected in other people’s facial expressions.

Research has indicated that the brains of teens are not fully mature. The emotional centers of the teen brain light up when they view fear. However, the front of the brain shows little response. In adults, the front of the brain lights up. The frontal lobes which control planning, insight, and judgment are still maturing in teens. Researcher, Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, concludes that, in contrast to adults, teens may respond to fear faces on a gut level rather than with insight.

Questions