Why Teens are Lousy at Chores

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Parents, dont give up on your teens yet.
this is from the artical below, enjoy the read.
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http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology ... ought.html
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Finally researchers have come up with a reason other than pure laziness for why teenagers can't shower and brush their teeth or unload the dishwasher and wipe down the counter.

Blame it on "cognitive limitations." Their brains can't multitask as well as those of the taskmasters.

Trust, however, that they'll grow out of it.

The part of the brain responsible for multitasking continues to develop until late adolescence, with cells making connections even after some children are old enough to drive, according to a new study in the May/June issue of the journal Child Development.

The frontal cortex, which starts just behind the eyes and goes back almost to the ears, figures out (or doesn't) what to do when a person is asked to juggle multiple pieces of information. Imagine, then, how "make your bed and bring the laundry down" might befuddle a 13-year-old.

In one of the study's tests, subjects between ages 9 and 20 were given multiple pieces of information, then asked to re-order the information to formulate an accurate response to a question. In another of several tests, they were asked to find hidden items using a high degree of strategic thinking.

The ability to remember multiple bits of information developed through age 13 to 15, the study found. But strategic self-organized thinking, the type that demands a high level of multi-tasking skill, continues to develop until ages 16 to 17.

The notion is not entirely new. Brain imaging has suggested as much.

"Our findings lend behavioral support to that work and indicate that the frontal lobe is continuing to develop until late adolescence in a manner that depends upon the complexity of the task that is being demanded," said lead researcher Monica Luciana, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota.

Unfortunately the study did not reveal any solution to parents at their wits' end over the problem. But Luciana did offer this advice:

"We need to keep their cognitive limitations in mind, especially when adolescents are confronted with demanding situations in the classroom, at home, or in social gatherings."

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Chore-aversion happens to us Grown-Ups as well - I still haven't done the Washing Up for 3 days. And as for making the bed? Forget it!

Ah yes but what about the 32 year old that still can't multi task or for that matter the 49 year old that can't

I'm almost 21, and I don't think the part of my brain responsible for multitasking is fully developed. In fact, I'm not sure if it ever will be.

Teenagers rely more heavily on the Amygdala than the Prefrontal Cortex while the PC continues to develop into the early 20s. The Frontal Lobes have more to do with planning and control which is why teenagers can often be impulsive or not think things through very well.

Aspies have been known to have problems with Frontal Lobe Dysfunction. Which is likely why I am very poor at multitasking and attention and many other things.

I see an easy solution to this: give the child/teen explicit intructions/training, and give them a checklist if more tha one task must be done. ((I mean a physical checklist.))

However there has to be a flaw because that seemed too obvious. A cognitive flaw, not the fact that it seems like an annoying thingg to do. Doing chores is annoying to anyone. ((Although to me not doing them is FAR more annoying.))

Yes, problems with multitasking are common in autistic people. It can also come under the heading of "excutive dysfunction". I hate doing chores and put them off but eventually one day, I get fed up with the mess and do a lot of work to fix it up.

With teenagers and younger children, all too often the parents bark a series of orders at them. I don't think the parents would like to be spoken to in the same way.

It would indeed be better to give the children one chore at a time and see that it's finished before assigning another or give them a list that they can tick off as they complete items.

Mind you, it would be a good idea to keep a few copies in case the first one is misplaced.

Multi-tasking is a pain for me, but I am not sure if that just comes down to impatience, lack of co-ordination and planning or something.

Getting pulled from one task to another on a completely random whim by a boss/supervisor is also a pain. I've been in trouble before on failing to bounce around randomly, doing a little bit of everything and not much of anything. This shows up especially when you are working in an over-busy and understaffed industrial kitchen and you have to try to do about 50 things at once.

haha, I'm really lousy at chores. I have to do the dishes every day, and when I do them, I leave stuff all over the counter and table!

Except half the time I don't even see everything.

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