The first is that adolescent behavior is irrational or deviant. Such descriptions may be understandable in light of the peak incidence in criminal activity and many psychiatric disorders that arise during this developmental period. Yet this description pathologizes an important phase of normal development that allows individuals to learn how to function relatively independently in society. A second overgeneralization is that adolescents are incapable of making rational decisions because of their immature prefrontal cortex (Yurgelun-Todd, 2007), the so-called rational, vulcanized region of the brain (J. D. Cohen, 2005). Clearly, the prefrontal cortex is not the only part of the brain that changes during this developmental period, and the child’s prefrontal cortex is even less mature than the adolescent’s. Thus, this explanation does not sufficiently explain spikes in risky and emotive behavior during adolescence. We present evidence that underscores the importance of considering brain regions as part of a developing circuitry that is fine-tuned with experience during this time. Third is the century-old claim that all adolescents experience “sturm und drang”—that is, “storm and stress”—a claim originally proposed by G. Stanley Hall (Hall, 1904). Although adolescents show poor self-control as a group, we provide evidence for when self-control is most likely to break down during adolescence and for striking individual differences in this ability across the life span that may put some teens at greater risk than others. We address each of the preceding overgeneralizations in the context of a neurodevelopmental framework.