Y11W06WR The brain still being built

Argumentative
The writing prompt

Argue whether the brain-development research should lead adults to lower their expectations of adolescent judgement, or whether doing so prevents the development of judgement the adolescent brain is capable of learning.

1Retrieval check

Q1.When does the prefrontal cortex finish developing, according to the article?

  • AAround age 12
  • BAround age 16
  • CAround the mid-20s
  • DIt never stops developing

Q2.What does Steinberg’s research show about teenagers’ judgement?

  • AIt is always worse than adults’
  • BIt is comparable to adults’ in calm settings but collapses faster under peer pressure or emotional arousal
  • CIt is better than adults’ in all situations
  • DIt is unrelated to context
Show answer key

Q1 → C. Around the mid-20s.The prefrontal cortex — impulse control, long-term planning, risk assessment — finishes developing in the mid-20s.

Q2 → B. It is comparable to adults’ in calm settings but collapses faster under peer pressure or emotional arousal.The adolescent brain isn’t defective — it’s specifically tuned for novelty and social learning, which is why it collapses under arousal, not why it fails in general.

2Prompt deconstruction

Command verb
ARGUE — take a position between two poles or a defensible middle
Pole A
neurodevelopmental facts should reduce adult expectations of teenage judgement
Pole B
treating these as fixed limits prevents teenagers from learning self-regulation they are capable of
Must include
Steinberg’s research AND the article’s caveat about the ‘immature brain’ framing excusing learnable self-regulation

3Position-staking nudge

Where do you lean right now?

Pole A
Middle
Pole B

Pole Alower expectations of adolescent judgement

Pole Bdoing so prevents learnable self-regulation

No wrong answer. Committing now gives your argument a spine.

4Planner — four one-sentence slots

My claim
In one sentence, what are you going to argue?
Evidence from the article
Which specific example from the article will you use, and what does it show?
Strongest counter
What is the best objection to your claim?
My response
Why does your claim still hold in light of that objection?

5Sentence stems

  • In this article, the author argues that ___.
  • The clearest evidence of this is ___.
  • A reasonable counter-view is that ___.
  • While this point has force, it overlooks ___.
  • On balance, I find ___ more persuasive because ___.
  • If this is right, then what I should actually do differently is ___.

6Exemplar paragraph (not about this article)

(1) The author argues that the adolescent brain’s late-developing prefrontal cortex is real evidence, not an excuse. (2) The clearest example is Steinberg’s finding that teenage judgement in calm settings is comparable to adults’ but collapses faster under peer pressure. (3) A reasonable counter-view is that emphasising brain immaturity can become a permission slip for under-expectation. (4) While that point has force, the article’s honest position is that adults should design environments that protect adolescents from peak-arousal decisions while expecting calm-state judgement to grow. (5) On balance, I find this mixed position more persuasive, because it matches what the research actually says.

What this paragraph does, move by move

  1. States the claim drawn from the article.
  2. Anchors it in named research.
  3. Acknowledges the best counter-view.
  4. Responds with nuance, not dismissal.
  5. Lands a defended position.