The Developing Brain
What is the developmental period when peer relationships often become increasingly important and reward sensitivity changes?
What is adolescence?
Likes and positive comments from peers are examples of what?
What is social reward?
What does DSN Lab stand for?
What is Developmental Social Neuroscience Lab?
What does a p value less than .05 typically indicate under the null hypothesis?
What is a statistically significant result?
According to Burnell et al., as adolescents mature, do they tend to care more or less about likes and comments on social media?
Less
What brain region supports planning, decision-making, and cognitive control?
What is the prefrontal cortex?
What is the psychological experience of wanting approval or acceptance from others called?
What is validation-seeking or approval-seeking behavior?
What type of study follows the same participants over multiple time points?
What is a longitudinal study?
What statistic describes the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables?
What is a correlation coefficient?
Relating to Kilic et al. (2024), Overthinking over Screens, what is the psychological term for repeatedly thinking about negative experiences or feelings?
Rumination
This adolescent brain region, a key hub for processing fear and emotional salience, shows heightened reactivity to emotional faces in teens compared to children and adults
What type of learning occurs when a behavior is reinforced by a rewarding outcome, such as receiving social approval?
What is reinforcement learning
What method involves collecting repeated reports of participants’ experiences in real time or close to when they occur?
What is EMA?
What statistical test compares the means of two groups?
What is a t-test?
What are two features of social media that might explain why adolescents ruminate more after negative online interactions?
Permanence of posts and messages, lack of facial expressions or tone of voice, public visibility, or delayed responses.
What neurotransmitter is involved in reward learning and motivation?
What is dopamine?
This brain region, part of the brain's reward circuitry, is frequently studied in research on adolescents' responses to peer approval and social feedback.
What is the VTA?
What does fMRI measure to help researchers infer which brain regions are active during a task?
What is the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal?
What type of validity is threatened when a third variable may explain the relationship between two variables?
What is internal validity?
According to Maheux et al. (2026), which motivation for using generative AI was associated with lower levels of depression, anxiety, and loneliness?
Learning and exploration
What process strengthens frequently used neural connections while eliminating less-used ones during adolescent brain development?
What is synaptic pruning?
What term describes the brain's response when actual social feedback differs from what someone expected?
What is social prediction error?
What does SUPER in SUPERBrain stand for?
What is Social Understanding, Peers, Excellence, and Resilience?
What statistical approach allows researchers to examine the unique association between a predictor and an outcome while controlling for other variables?
What is multiple regression?
According to Burnell et al., could reflecting on old Instagram posts bring up both positive and negative feelings about personal growth? Give examples for both if yes.