Age 10 to 14 Module 1 Introduction
- Lesson 1.1
- By the end of this lesson, students will be able to clearly define decision-making and explain its primary purpose in meeting unmet needs and supporting survival, using specific examples related to daily life and personal goals.
- Students will apply adaptive decision-making techniques by completing a weekly needs assessment and identifying at least one unmet need, demonstrating a routine for addressing needs that can reduce decision-related anxiety and improve decision-making efficiency.
- Lesson 1.2
- By the end of this lesson, students will be able to accurately identify and describe the two primary decision-making systems in the brain (Automatic and Deliberate) and explain how each system supports different types of decision-making needs based on energy use, familiarity, and complexity and the role of the ACC.
- Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze real-life scenarios and determine which decision-making system will likely be in use by recognizing contextual clues such as familiarity, urgency, and emotional triggers.
- Lesson 1.3
- Apply Understanding of Up-Regulation Triggers to Real-Life Scenarios
- When presented with various everyday scenarios (e.g., deciding on a career change, handling a routine task), students will accurately identify whether the scenario would trigger an up-regulation to the Deliberate system or a reliance on the Automatic system, demonstrating a clear understanding of “struggling moments.”
- Analyze Down-Regulation Factors and Assess Their Impact on Decision-Making
- Given a list of internal and external down-regulation factors (e.g., time pressure, high emotions), students will analyze and assess how these factors impact decision-making, accurately explaining when and why the brain may revert to the Automatic system to conserve resources.
- Lesson 1.4
- Learners will effectively apply observation and assessment tools, such as the Weekly Needs Assessment (WNA) and Optimal Decision Making Eval, to collect and interpret relevant information for decision-making situations.
- Learners will demonstrate the ability to gather and provide accurate, current, and contextual information to enhance the functionality of the Deliberate decision-making system, leading to improved decision-making outcomes.
