Brain science of emotions · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.
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Your brain on big feelings

Personal & Social Development · Emotional Literacy · ages 11-12
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Which brain area helps with planning and considering responses?

    • The amygdala
    • The prefrontal cortex
    • The dopamine system

  2. Which job involves the amygdala?

    • Helping detect emotionally important events
    • Storing every detail of every past event on its own
    • Planning every future action without other brain areas

  3. Strong or lasting stress can make thinking or remembering harder.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Why can brain development alone not tell us exactly how strongly a 12-year-old will feel?

    • Experience, context and individual differences also matter
    • The prefrontal cortex's development tells us the whole response
    • Dopamine levels alone explain how intense each feeling will be

  5. Leo says every emotion follows four separate steps: amygdala, hormones, body, then thinking. Why is that misleading?

    • His chain is right, but thinking takes longer during adolescence
    • The same steps occur in reverse when the feeling is pleasant
    • Brain and body systems work together, without that fixed chain

  6. Diego feels furious after a game. He pauses, names the feeling and chooses how to respond. What does this show?

    • Hiding every outward sign of his feeling
    • Choosing how to respond to his feeling
    • Letting his first impulse decide his action

  7. Sam does not get a part in a play and thinks, 'I will never improve.' Which thought is a realistic reappraisal?

    • This tryout is one result; I can ask for feedback and practise
    • This result proves I will never improve, whatever practice I do
    • I must pretend the tryout never happened and refuse to discuss it

  8. Priya feels embarrassed. She keeps a neutral face until she can talk privately with a counselor. What is holding back the outward expression called?

    • Reappraisal of the event's meaning
    • Removal of the feeling from memory
    • Suppression of expression
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Your brain on big feelings W1-mt_gf4RUcACLg-s1

  1. The prefrontal cortex · The prefrontal cortex contributes to planning and considering responses, working with other brain areas.
  2. Helping detect emotionally important events · The amygdala contributes to detecting emotionally important events, including possible threats. It works with other brain areas.
  3. True · Stress can affect thinking and memory. The effect varies with the situation.
  4. Experience, context and individual differences also matter · Development is only part of the picture. Experience, context and differences between people also affect feelings.
  5. Brain and body systems work together, without that fixed chain · The lesson does not give a fixed four-step chain for every emotion. Brain activity, hormones and body responses interact.
  6. Choosing how to respond to his feeling · Diego is regulating his response by pausing and choosing. The story does not say he hides every outward sign.
  7. This tryout is one result; I can ask for feedback and practise · One result does not establish that Sam can never improve. Considering feedback and practice gives the event another plausible meaning.
  8. Suppression of expression · Suppression means holding back outward expression. It need not erase the feeling, and choosing privacy can be useful.
Worksheet · LightMySky