as its abundantly clear a human brain is mid development at age 16 -17 the idea of utilising all its capacity to make easy fully developed decisions opens up an interesting debate
20s and beyond
According to recent findings, the human brain does not reach full maturity until at least the mid-20s. (See J. Giedd in References.) The specific changes that follow young adulthood are not yet well studied, but it is known that they involve increased myelination and continued adding and pruning of neurons. As a number of researchers have put it, "the rental car companies have it right." The brain isn't fully mature at 16, when we are allowed to drive, or at 18, when we are allowed to vote, or at 21, when we are allowed to drink, but closer to 25, when we are allowed to rent a car.
MIT have done extensive research on it as have others
http://hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/youngadult/index.html
Adolescence
* Abstract thinking arrow
* Right/wrong framework arrow
* Instrumental relationships arrow
* Intensity of emotion arrow
* Sensation seeking arrow
Adolescence also brings, as a result of hormonal changes at puberty, increased sensitivity to alcohol and other drugs, alterations in the sleep cycle, and changes in the hormones associated with mood. All of these changes interact, contributing to adolescents' heightened vulnerability to mood disorders and other types of mental illness.
CHANGES IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD
Dramatic Change
A large and relatively new body of research is revealing that young adulthood is a time of dramatic change in basic thinking structures, as well as in the brain. Consensus is emerging that an 18-year-old is not the same person she or he will be at 25, just as an 11-year-old is not the same as he or she will be at 18. They don't look the same, feel the same, think the same, or act the same.
Three Categories
Across theories and research frameworks, a sequence of developmental shifts emerges, which can be organized into three overall categories:
* Adolescence (generally defined as puberty through age 18)
* Young adulthood (generally defined as 18 to 22 or 18 to 25)
* Later adulthood (generally defined as mid-20s and older)
Many researchers and theorists divide these three broad areas into several smaller shifts, depending on the aspect of development they are measuring, such as reflective judgment, moral development, or cognitive structural development. There remains much division within and between disciplines, but, at the broader level, they share significant common ground.
The Mental Visor
Fundamentally, what changes in these developmental shifts is not just what people think, but also what they think about. Everyone, including young adults, has a kind of mental "visor" that screens out some kinds of phenomena while letting in others for consideration. As development unfolds, one can "see" and think about more and more complex phenomena such as abstractions, relationships, and moral problems, offering more and more powerful thinking tools.
Why does development happen? Most researchers see a role both for nature and nurture. In healthy people, some changes evolve on a biological timetable, as long as the environment is "good enough," and some changes are prompted by demands in the environment, as long as the biological underpinnings are "good enough."
When teens enter young adulthood, their thinking capacities, relationship skills, and ability to regulate emotions are unlikely to be at a developmental level where they can cope easily with the demands of a diverse, global, technological, rapidly-changing world. If all goes well, biology and environment bring a surge of growth paralleling those of childhood and adolescence.
An Emerging Field
Acknowledging these findings, researchers have begun to define young adulthood as its own developmental period, referring to it as "emerging adulthood," "the frontier of adulthood," or, earlier, "the novice phase." Here at the start of the 21st century, researchers are creating a new field around young adulthood, just as, at the turn of the 20th century, researchers defined a new field around adolescence.
Much of the impetus and focus for the research has come from the lengthening period in the U.S. between the onset of puberty and the fulfilling of cultural expectations around adult roles like financial independence and family formation. Significant differences can be expected across culture and circumstance.
Young Adulthood
More Complex Thinking
As teens progress into young adulthood, they are able to hold and manipulate on their mental "visor" not only single abstractions, but also clusters of abstractions and then systems for organizing abstract thoughts, according to Kurt Fischer, Michael Commons, and others. (See References.) This assists them perhaps most visibly in mathematics and sciences, but applies to thinking about all phenomena, such as ideas, values, and perspectives.
Appreciation for Diverse Views
This added thinking power is described by William Perry and others as a change from the "right/wrong" framework of adolescence to a more "multiplistic" framework, in which young adults can "see" many points of view, value the diversity of people and perspectives, and appreciate that there can be many right answers to a problem. At first, all ideas seem to have equal value, as one embraces the full diversity of peoples and perspectives. Over time, one finds ways to organize this multiplicity, to identify values and viewpoints that work better for oneself, while respecting that other viewpoints may fit better for others. Ultimately, one evolves a more "relativistic" approach and works out ways to commit personally to certain values amidst the diversity.
Mutuality in Relationships
Young adults are better able to consider different points of view at the same time, that is, to hold multiple perspectives on their mental visor. This allows them to form relationships with peers based on observing that they care about the same things and loyalties to institutions based on observing that they share the same values. They can also understand constrctive criticism, appreciating that the other person is intending to be helpful, even if the effect is painful at the moment. Moving from an "instrumental" to a more "socializable" orientation, in Robert Kegan's terms (see References), young adults are more likely to operate from a principle like the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Emotional Regulation
Critical to their safety, young adults acquire a significantly greater capacity for integration of thought and emotion. With the ability to hold the present and the future on their mental visor at the same time, they can weigh immediate rewards against future consequences, putting more effective "brakes" on the emotional intensity and sensation-seeking heightened since puberty.
Risk-taking and Decision-making
With this greater capacity for thinking about future consequences and regulating emotions, young adults have an easier time modulating risk-taking and making decisions about the future, including choices about health, relationships, education, and careers. They can also weigh the impact of their choices on others more effectively, in actions as simple as showing up for appointments on time or as complex as parenting a young child.
Caveats
The advent of a new developmental skill, such as multiplistic thinking, does not mean that one uses that skill all the time. Rather, it becomes a new option, one that at first can be tapped only with a great deal of support, probably in one particular area, such as an academic subject. Gradually it becomes easier and more familiar and hence used more frequently across a wider range of life experiences. For more information on these gradations, see Developmental Range.
A more sobering caveat is that some people never fully achieve these milestones at all. Although they occur in young adulthood if all goes well, there are by no means automatic, and they can be delayed or severely limited by a number of circumstances, including mental illness; learning disabilities; frequent use of alcohol or other drugs; and abuse, neglect, deprivation, violence, and other traumas. See Individual Differences.