©Arlene R. Taylor, PhD

While in place at birth, the frontal lobes of the cerebrum are thought to develop at about 6 months of age. By 12 months of age the frontal lobes are beginning to gain control over the subconscious drives of the emotional brain.

Wernicke’s area (the portion of the Maintaining division that translates sounds, especially speech sounds, into something that has meaning) becomes active at about 18 months of age, and then Broca’s Area kicks in (the portion of the Prioritizing division that provides one with the ability to speak aloud). This means there is a span of time when children understand words but have difficulty verbalizing them. The frustration this can cause may explain, in part, some of the behaviors exhibited during the terrible twos. Some care providers have discovered that teaching American Sign Language to babies tends to reduce some of the frustration experienced during this communication lag.

By the age of two, if children have been exposed to a variety of activities and have been encouraged to be who they were designed to be--and their parents understand something about brain function--you may be able to start recognizing the child's brain bent. The old axiom, train children in the way they should go and when they are old they’ll never depart from it, makes incredible sense when viewed from this perspective. If you are living your brain bent the majority of the time and your brain is purring along using a fraction of the energy that is required when utilizing functions from one of the other three divisions of the cerebrum, why would you ever want to live another way?

Following are examples of what to look for when trying to identify children's brain bent.

altPrioritizing

Division

altEnvisioning 

Division

 

Children may have a brain bent in this division when they:

  • Gravitate toward tools and machine
  • Like to use tools to construct things
  • Try to take apart small machines to figure out how they work (e.g., portable CD player)
  • Are articulate but not chatty
  • Set personal “goals” for self (may try to do it for others as well)
  • Seem to like to argue
  • Are good at math, especially algebra (although this may be a function of the skill of the teacher to bring this out in the child)
  • Prefer multiple choice or essay tests
  • Have a good sense of time and want to tell others what to do based on time
  • Like to read stories about famous sports figures or great generals or leaders—people who did great things
  • Want to make the rules and wants other to follow them
  • May tend to intimidate others (e.g., some teachers) with emerging inductive-deductive style of reasoning and the need to people to present logical reasons for what they say or do

 

Children may have a brain bent in this division when they:

  • Wander off or explore
  • Daydream
  • Draw, often expansively covering the entire page
  • Are good at visual or spatial games
  • Move and gesture when talking
  • Prefer to run, jump, and climb, often while making noises
  • May not read as a young child or may read voraciously about new and different things (e.g., may like futuristic stories and science fiction)
  • Tend to be good at geometry (although this may be a function of the skill of the teacher to bring this out in the child)
  • Prefer essay tests in which there is no one right answer (although would rather use a computer for preparation than handwriting)
  • Seem to have a shorter attention span, jumping from one thing to another as if searching for variety, or seem restless
  • May know the answers but may be unable to clearly state how the answer was arrived at
  • May often be way ahead of the teacher
  • If truly interested in a subject or topic or project can lose all sense of time

 

altMaintaining

Division

altHarmonizing

Division

 

Children may have a brain bent in this division when they:

  • Seem to need more routine
  • Prefer to eat at the same time every day
  • Prefer to have the same food for the same meal
  • Prefer to be told what to do and how to do it
  • Like toys that follow a track
  • Like to read books about “how to do” something the right way, and about the real world
  • Prefer true-false test
  • Wants his/her room and personal space kept “just so”
  • Tend to want to be on time and meet deadlines
  • Tend to be willing to follow the rules when he/she knows what they are

 

Children may have a brain bent in this division when they:

  • Are quite chatty
  • Know everyone in the neighborhood and is known by everyone
  • Like to change clothes often and play dress up
  • Enjoy and often wear bright colors
  • Touche and like to be touches
  • Like to read animal stories, biographies (stories about people), and romances
  • Like pets and usually remembers to take care of them
  • Giggle a lot or are “silly”
  • Like to help others or to share their experiences
  • Prefer to be in the same room with others rather than be alone
  • Are not particularly good at tests and don’t like to take them

 

Following of examples of general descriptions of behaviors that may be exhibited by children based on brain bent.

altPrioritizing

Division

 

altEnvisioning

 Division

 

Children may have a brain bent in this division when tend to be verbal, logical, and conceptual.

They want to make decisions, like to direct others, and tend to challenge others when discussing concepts (e.g., information that is stated rationally rather than logically). If they are not given opportunity to make decisions they will find ways to do so (e.g., saying “no” to almost everything)

They can test almost everything to the limit, and can focus attention on a problem until it is solved to their satisfaction. They are usually careful and somewhat cautious. They may look self-assured in new situations but are slow to warm up to strangers in separation situations.

 

Children may have a brain bent in this division when they tend to enjoy innovation, and trouble-shooting.

They like to solve problems and, if none exist, may create a few to solve. Typically, they arrive at answers in an abstract, intuitive way but may not be able to state how they arrived at their answers or conclusions.

They take in huge amounts of data second for second and can almost lose touch with reality as they generate ideas. They get the picture quickly and may get bored as the teacher goes through the sequential steps so often emphasized in most curricula.

altPrioritizing

Division

 

altEnvisioning

Division

 

Children may have a brain bent in this division when they tend to:

  • Prefer large-muscle activities
  • Like to use tools of all kinds and try to gain the most effect with the least effort
  • Arrive at answers by evaluating the pros and cons
  • Seem to develop and exhibit an inductive/deductive reasoning style quite quickly and easily
  • Can become impatient when things do not go their way or when answers to their questions don’t seem logical to them
  • Enjoy taking things apart to see how they work
  • Like to make or set the rules
  • Want to make decisions, be in charge, and tell others what to do
  • Like to investigate, research, analyze, and evaluate data/projects
  • Argue and debate almost everything
  • Like to set goals and achieve them
  • Are competitive and want to win

 

Children may have a brain bent in this division when they tend to:

  • Prefer to be active and need to move to learn, enjoy outdoor activities (often with noises/gestures) but can sit still for hours if their interest is sufficiently piqued
  • Can be leaders, but can also wander off if something else catches their interest
  • Can separate fairly easily and don’t fear new situations; can be daring and even reckless (e.g., leap before they look)
  • Enjoy using and thinking in metaphors
  • Prefer to have all their things in plain view, (e.g., clothes, toys, books, papers in stacks) because anything out of sight tends to be out of mind
  • Enjoy pretend stories and ask many why and what-if questions
  • Enjoy drawing, especially caricatures, and often cover the entire page
  • Dislike rules and routines and may drop out of traditional school systems
  • Often start multiple projects, skip from one to another, and fail to completely finish any of them

 

altPrioritizing Division

 

altEnvisioning Division

 

Validate these children for an ability to:

  • Reason logically and verbalize reasons
  • Make decisions quickly and accurately
  • Set and achieve goals
  • Analyze for functionality
  • Summarize information
  • Engage in research projects

 

Validate these children for an ability to:

  • Anticipate and make changes
  • Make imaginative choices
  • Create artistically
  • Take appropriate risks
  • Brainstorming innovatively
  • Solve problems intuitively
  • See the big picture

 

altMaintaining Division

 

altHarmonizing

Division

 

Children with a brain bent in this division tend to need routines and limits. They often ask questions such as, “Am I doing this right?” or “Is it time?” They usually follow the rules, try to be good team players, and like to keep things in order.

They don’t like others to move their belongings (bounded shapes) without their permission.

They tend to remember the words to a song. Like most children, they enjoy stories; but will usually prefer factual stories. They enjoy repetition and may ask you to read the same story to them over and over again.

 

Children with a brain bent in this division tend to need interpersonal connection. They usually make friends easily and encourage everyone to participate.

They aren’t particularly adept at details. If allowed to work on a detailed project with a friend, so they can connect and communicate with each other during the learning process, they will likely do the detail much more accurately.

They tend to love stories of almost any type, but especially those about people and/or animals.

 

altMaintaining

Division

 

altHarmonizing

Division

 

Children with a brain bent in this division tend to:

  • Prefer small motor activities that involve handling/manipulating bounded shapes
  • Show stress when asked to change(e.g., when the schedule is unexpectedly varied or the lunchbox menu is different)
  • Don’t venture out by themselves
  • May exhibit separation anxiety, especially when expected to move into a new situation such as enrolling in day-care or starting school (show change stress)
  • Want repetition, predictability, familiarity, and stability
  • Like routines and are bothered by interruptions
  • Need additional time to adjust to change to a new environment or situation

 

Children with a brain bent in this division tend to:

  • Like to dress and undress, to change clothes and play dress-up endlessly
  • Enjoy rhythmic music and movement (e.g., ballet), may enjoy singing
  • Are sensitive to nonspeech sounds (e.g., cries and shouts)
  • Like nature sounds such as pounding surf, falling rain, singing birds
  • Like to collect souvenirs¾provided there is a connection with a pleasant experience
  • Separate easily if they can transfer to another trusted person (e.g., mother to teacher)
  • Tend to touch everything and like to be touched
  • Want to be with others and may dislike being alone
  • Seek facial and eye contact
  • Enjoy pets and stuffed toys that can be held
  • May talk a lot and ask a great many "why" questions

 

altMaintaining

Division

 

altHarmonizing

Division

 

Validate these children for an ability to:

  • Produce and supply services dependably
  • Follow directions accurately
  • Complete assignments on time
  • Keep belongings organized
  • Memorize facts, figures, and names
  • Spell words accurately
  • Achieve neat printing and/or cursive writing

Validate these children for an ability to:

  • Build trust and harmony
  • Be a peacemaker and help others to feel comfortable
  • Verbalize own feelings
  • Observe and acknowledge the feelings of others
  • Give smiles and hugs
  • Harmonize sounds and colors
  • Exhibit a sensitivity to others, to creatures, and to nature

 

Brain Maturation

The brain matures more slowly than the body. For example, the largest of the three bridges that connect the two cerebral hemispheres (the Corpus Callosum) is not myelinated or wrapped with insulation until about age 20-21. Until myelination is complete, the brain is at risk of “shorting out,” so to speak (e.g., exhibiting behaviors that a myelinated brain might avoid).

The pre-frontal lobes directly behind the forehead that contain the brain’s executive functions (e.g., decision, willpower, planning, conscience, morality) are considered to be developed somewhere around the late 20's or 30's,  and sometimes into the 40's—and this process typically takes about 1.6 years longer to occur in the male brain than in the comparable female brain.

Caveat: There can be 2-3 years of difference in maturation rates between brains of the same chronological age.

Be aware that decisions made prior to the maturation of the Corpus Callosum and pre-frontal cortex may not work very well once the brain has developed and matured.

Factors That May Skew Behaviors

Typically exhibited characteristics may be skewed in an individual child based on a host of factors such as:

  • Parental preferences or brain bent, etc.
  • Opportunities that the child has been given
  • The past experiences of the child (especially those related to unrealistic expectations, rewards, or punishment)
  • The child’s perception of who he/she needs to be to make the parents feel okay about themselves
  • The child’s position on the Extrovert-Ambivert-Introvert Continuum
  • The child’s Sensory Preference
  • The presence of abuse or vicarious exposure to abuse
  • The presence of an intact versus a fractured family system
  • Expectations and/or pressure from culture, society, family, school, religion, etc.
  • Being downshifted due to fear, trauma, crisis, or anxiety
  • Whether the child has been medicated due to a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD