Page 144 - Keys to College Success

“neural pathway” like this operates like a woodland path that has
become well-worn and clear through frequent foot traffic.
Learning something new often feels risky and awkward, like
cutting through bushes and brush to make a path that wasn’t there
before. That’s because the neurons have to reach toward neurons
that they may not have connected with much or at all. When you
stop using something you’ve learned, your brain will reduce the
clarity of that pathway by “pruning” unused cells. Basically, it is a
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“use it or lose it” situation—your brain tissue literally changes
shape and strength based on what you do or do not do.

Executive Function Under Construction

One of the most significant research findings of the last decade is
that your brain’s prefrontal cortex , which controls your most
complex thinking actions, undergoes its last and most compre-
hensive phase of development from around 18 to 25 years of age.
During this phase, dendrites grow thicker, frequently used syn-
apses become stronger, and nerve fibers become more heavily insulated, making “the
entire brain a much faster and more sophisticated organ.” The prefrontal cortex
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controls executive function, a crucial tool for school and life success.
Basically, executive function is what allows people to perceive possible future EXECUTIVE FUNCTION
consequences of a choice, weigh the pros and cons of the consequences of different A set of higher-order
choices, and take the risk of putting one to work, based on what seems to offer the great- behaviors and cognitive
est reward. As the developing brain gets the “wiring upgrade” that improves executive processes involving
function, that brain’s owner becomes more skilled in each of these actions, more able to tasks, selecting the most
planning, prioritizing
balance self-interest against other values and ultimately make more productive decisions. 3 important information,
Because their executive function is still developing, many college students tend and evaluating potential
toward impulsive choices and physically risky actions. However, this is not because future consequences
of decisions.
they have shut off their brains, but because their thinking is highly focused on potential
gain. Research shows that although younger people see and evaluate risk as do their
older counterparts, they are more likely to take risks that adults would not because Critical, Creative, and Practical Thinking
they value different types of rewards. 4

College and Your Brain: An Ideal Team

Although it can be challenging, there is an advantage to being in this phase of brain
development right now. Growing your thinking power often requires exposure to the
unfamiliar, and college provides new turf that can stimulate an evolving brain. If you
can apply the risk-taking tendencies your brain may exhibit now to the actions you take
on behalf of your education, you may be more receptive to the relationships, informa-
tion, and experiences college offers—the raw material you need to develop your mind. 5
This chapter is focused on the development of your executive function, helping you
to take advantage of how college learning and experiences can build richer networks
among the neurons in your brain. You will increase your ability to solve problems and
make decisions—your two most important and frequently used thinking processes.
First, consider how to define thinking in terms of the thinker’s intention and action.

WHAT IS
thinking?

According to experts, thinking is what happens when you ask questions and
move toward the answers. “To think through or rethink anything,” says Dr. Richard
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Paul, director of research at the Center for Critical Thinking and Moral Critique,

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