Passage Four

In their recent book, “Wildhood,” Harvard biologist Barbara Natterson - Horowitz and science journalist Kathryn Bowers point out that adolescent (青春期的) animals and human teenagers go through the same sorts of challenges. With little life experience, adolescent animals engage in dangerous but beneficial behaviors. For example, they watch, smell and learn about the animals that eat them, gathering all kinds of information that can keep them safer as adults. Similarly, human teenagers try to have as many experiences as they can before they leave the nest.

Another key aspect of adolescents is the amount of time they spend in groups. This period is marked by peak levels of peer (同伴) pressure and near-disaster. Scientists have found that adolescents of all kinds tend to make dangerous moves while with peers. Laurence Steinberg, a psychology professor, set up two experiments. One involved mice, half of which were adolescents, drinking alcoholic water. In the other experiment, human teenagers played a driving video game. The results were surprisingly similar. “We found that in the presence of peers, adolescent mice drank more than they do when they’re alone,” Steinberg said. The teenagers in the driving study also took more risks when others were around. Just knowing there were other teenagers watching appeared to make the one behind the wheel act more carelessly. These findings reveal another adolescent quality: the desire to socialize. “For the most part, adolescents like to be with other adolescents,” Steinberg said.

While writing the book, both Natterson-Horowitz and Bowers were raising a human teenager in their homes. Their desire to understand the wild was driven by wanting to understand their own children.