Dante's Inferno:..."lasciate ogni speranza voi ch'entrate.."

Memory and our brain

Did you know that human beings have declarative and procedural memory? Declarative memory is processed in the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible to hold facts and names and faces, which is much smaller than the cerebellum, where instead we process memories of how we do things. May that is way we tend to forget names so easily, because we do not have enough room for it? Well, not really, techniques to memorize things are key to short and long term memorization. I have a good trick to remember names: I repeat it out lout three times (seven is best), I repeat it in my head and find a characteristic of the individual which helps me link it to the name to the person, i.e., long curly hair from Boston...

Memory Language Problem Solving Creativity COGNITION (8-10% OF AP TEST), Published by Juliana Smith

??? Did You Know ?

Brain-scan studies have shown that London taxi drivers, who spend years memorizing the city's labyrinthine streets, develop physically larger hippocampi, much as a muscle is enlarged by weight-training. From: http://www.human-memory.net

 

Experiences shape our memory and let’s be clear, memory can be faulty. I remember once telling a story of how at the age of three I almost drowned in a lake, which is true as it was confirmed by my mother, but as the years went by I added details of the colorful fish I saw underwater, which did not happen, however by telling the story over and over the fish became “reality” in my memory.

We have watched two Ted Talks this week about working memory and its reliability. Our memories reconstruct events according to Elizabeth Loftus (one of the Ted Talk speakers) and as a consequence we may not truly distinguish false memories from true ones. Mrs. Loftus also touches on the topic of planting false memories and how they have long-term repercussions. We often see in movies how powerful this process can be during interrogations, unfortunately it does not happen in movies alone.

??? Did You Know…?

Studies have shown that we often construct our memories after the fact, and that we are susceptible to suggestions from others that help us fill in the gaps in our memories. This malleability of memory is why, for example, a police officer investigating a crime should not show a picture of a single individual to a victim and ask if the victim recognizes the assailant. If the victim is then presented with a line-up and picks out the individual whose picture the victim had been shown, there is no real way of knowing whether the victim is actually remembering the assailant or just the picture.  From: http://www.human-memory.net

In a second Ted Talk Peter Doolittle explores working memory, which works for immediate goals. Recent MRI research has shown that we tend to remember 4 things rather than “seven plus or minus two” as indicated by psychologist George Miller in his theory of information processing. Working memory is limited in capacity, duration and focus. In order to retain working memory for more than 10-20 seconds we need to process its experience instantaneously, by talking to someone about it, by writing it down, by thinking about it and creating images in our brain. We need to relate our working memory to a process in order to make sense of it.

??? Did You Know …?

Reading out loud (or even whispering or mouthing it) forms auditory links in our memory pathways, as well as visual ones from looking at a page or screen. So, we remember ourselves producing and saying the information as well as reading it visually, which may improve our overall retrieval of memories. But this process works best, when just SOME of the information (e.g. the most important words or concepts) is read out loud best. From: http://www.human-memory.net

Believe it or not long term memory works better than we think. Long term memory allows us to remember things and never forget them (almost), but how do we work our long term memory? For instance sound helps in storing material in long term memory, this is very important as we can use music and sound to teach. Neurons play a necessary role in the processing of memory. Short term memory is consolidated temporarily in the hippocampus until it is transferred to the long term area of the brain, which is the cortex. But how do memories go from being short term to long term? Few factors can contribute to this process, sleep (if you can I recommend you watch Mrs. Huffington’s Ted talk: “The power of sleep”), recalling the experience in our minds, reflecting upon the experience, rehearsing it and by associating the experience with something meaningful.

??? Did You Know …?

Studies have shown that information is transferred between the hippocampus and the cerebral cortex during deep sleep, and sleep appears to be essential for the proper consolidation of long-term memories. However, even daytime naps can help improve memory to some extent, and helps with the memorization of important facts. From: www.human-memory.net

What are mnemonics?

Each of us has strategies for remembering things or for not forgetting them. I, for instance learned from my grandmother, who was born in 1899, that by placing something out of order it would remind me of something I need to do. Let’s say I am in the car and I cannot write down that I need to buy eggs, I will take a piece of paper or tissue or anything else I have handy and place it on the dashboard. When I see the out-of-place item, I will associate it with eggs. This is similar to the Loci Method which works on visualization. To remember my debit card pin number I use an acronym for instance and I associate the first letter to the word:F=6, G=7, etc. Eventually I no longer need it.

Do you remember the painful experience of rote memorization in school? Those forever long poems and historical dates? Rote memorization in my view can be seen as an exercise for our brain. Memorization reminds me of the time when I had to learn the first verse of Dante’s Inferno and all I have left now is the very beginning…”lasciate ogni speranza  voi ch’entrate..” which means “abandon all hope you who enter here… but please do not abandon hope that one day we will find the best teaching strategies!

Cognitive variables are complex. We learn differently for various reasons as previously discussed: cultural experience, neurological, biological and environmental backgrounds are factors directly connected to cognitive development. However an interesting approach of cognitive variability is presented by American psychologist Robert Siegler, who suggests that an individual can modify and change strategies within a short period of time during the same exercise. Siegler indicates that by observing this process of strategical changes, we can “predict subsequent learning”.  It is a common assumption that a learner will progressively move from less complicated strategies to more advanced ones, however studies show the opposite:

“Children often use more-advanced approaches on one trial and then regress to less-advanced ones on the next”. (Coyle & Bjorklund, 1997; Kuhn &Phelps, 1982; Tunteler & Resing, 2002).  

The process of trying various strategies goes back and forth and eventually it becomes a progressive learning curve. Greater use of strategies triggers greater learning, according to Siegler: ““Perhaps the strongest evidence for the importance of cognitive variability is that it predicts subsequent learning. For example, greater initial variability of strategy use often predicts greater learning” (Siegler, 2007)

STRATEGY DIVERSITY AND STRATEGY CHANGE

Through a study of elementary school children, Lemaire and Siegler’s (1995) analyzed four components of learning:

·      acquisition of new strategies,

·      increasing use of the most advanced existing strategies,

·      increasingly efficient execution of strategies, and

·      Improved choices among strategies.

Children used various learning strategies but in no particular order, at times they showed progress at times they didn’t. At the end they learned how to process the information more efficiently and accurately.

Siegler analyzes conceptual constraints on learning, which rely on the knowledge that the use of various strategies to solve a problem are not blindly chosen, rather they rely on previously learned mechanisms.

From tabula rasa to young scientists?

Bransford, John D., Brown, Ann L., and Cocking, Rodney R. explore: “How Children Learn”. We have seen how early theories questioned the cognitive capabilities of infants, whose minds were commonly defined as “tabula rasa”. With Piaget’s theories and today’s more modern tools, we know that a young child’s mind is active and not a blank slate. Children at a young age apply strategies and learn progressively. Piaget’s talked about four developmental stage whereas Vygotsky talked about the ZPD and how children can also be taught by more mature learners who can help plant the seed of new strategies in a younger learner’s mind.

METACOGNITION can be defined as:

·      The understanding a learner has of his/her own thought process.

·      Knowledge of a person’s own weaknesses and strengths.

·      The understanding of a learner that he/she is in charge of learning

Metacognition follows an upward learning curve and a teacher’s role is instrumental during this process. In school, children can be helped in developing a better understanding of what it means to remember and to learn.

It was once thought that a young learner could not acquire knowledge as well as an adult. Research has shown that a young learner has almost the same mental capacity as an adult but has to apply different learning strategies, such as rehearsal or repeating, elaboration and summarization (Bransford, John D., Brown, Ann L., and Cocking, Rodney R. explore “How Children Learn”). The aforementioned research discussed how children are capable of learning with the help of strategies. Children show early pre-dispositions to learning numbers and language, which suggests that they are biologically ready. Infants can “habituate” or get used to a movement and lose interested as soon as a new event is presented. Infants apply strategies according to several years of study.

 As previously mentioned, young children seem to have an innate aptitude for whole numbers at an early age, whereas fractions are concepts, which require instructions and practice. Language is also a stimulus in a young child’s mind. He or she can distinguish the sounds of different languages and their intonations. Young infants pay attention to the lip movements. The biological processing of language is directly related to the environment surrounding the child. Researches have shown that young children are aware of their own learning and they spontaneously apply will power and effort to the process.

In order to improve memory performance we may use a strategy referred to as “clustering”. George Miller, an American psychologist defines clustering as a way of organizing knowledge. His theory of the magic number seven plus or minus two has been influential in studies related to memorization. As previously indicated psychologist Miller explains that an individual can mentally handle up to seven items, plus or minus 2 and that we need to group or categorize the items to be memorized. Miller’s example of categorization recalls the example in our Ted Talk where Peter Doolittle asks us to remember five unrelated words. In the case of a child who may not recognize categories because he may have not been exposed to them, how can he come up with strategies for cognitive learning? Micro-genetic studies have given us some answers.

What  are micro-genetics?

“The micro-genetic approach examines change as it occurs, thus attempting to identify and explain its underlying mechanisms. It involves taking repeated measurements from the same participants over the course of transition in the domain of interest”. Furthermore:“This method provides detailed information about an individual over a period of transition. Furthermore, it ensures that sudden jumps, regressions and periods of equilibrium are not overlooked. These elements of change provide an indication of how a person’s knowledge or ability progresses from one level to another, often more sophisticated, level” (The British psychological society).

Teaching techniques have benefited from the results of micro genetic studies, which expose strategic development on the part of the learner.

“Reciprocal teaching” is one teaching method, studied by Annmarie Palinesar and Ann Brown in Reciprocal Teaching of Comprehension Fostering and Comprehension Monitoring Activities, 1982). Allow me to share this example:

“We developed a procedure, reciprocal teaching, where teacher and student took turns leading a dialogue concerning sections of a text. The procedure was similar to, but more extensive than, the reciprocal questioning intervention used with some success by Manzo (1968). In addition to reciprocal questioning, the teacher and students took turns generating summaries and predictions and in clarifying misleading or complex sections of the text. Initially, the teacher modeled the key activities of summarizing (self-review), questioning (making up a question on the main idea), clarifying, and predicting. The teacher thereby demonstrated the appropriate activities; the students were encouraged to participate at whatever level they could. The teacher could then provide guidance and feedback at the appropriate level for each student. The basic procedure was that an adult teacher, working individually with a seventh-grade poor reader, assigned a segment of the passage to be read and either indicated that it was her turn to be the teacher or assigned the student to teach that segment. The adult teacher and the student then read the assigned segment silently. After reading the text, the teacher (student or adult) for that segment asked a question that a teacher or test might ask on the segment, summarized the content, discussed and clarified any difficulties, and finally made a prediction about future content. All of these activities were embedded in as natural a dialogue as possible, with the teacher and student giving feedback to each other. Initially, the adult teacher modeled the activities, but the students had great difficulty assuming the role of dialogue leader when their turn came. The adult teacher was sometimes forced to construct paraphrases and questions for the students to mimic. In this initial phase, the adult teacher was modeling effective comprehension-monitoring strategies, but the students were relatively passive observers. Gradually, the students became much more capable of assuming their role as dialogue leader and by the end of ten sessions were providing paraphrases and questions of some sophistication.

Each day, before (baseline), during, and after (maintenance) training, the students took an unassisted assessment, where they read a novel passage and answered ten comprehension questions on it from memory. From their baseline performance of 15%correct, they improved during training to accuracy levels of 85-70%, levels they maintained when the intervention was terminated. Even after a 6-month delay, the students averaged 60% correct without help, and it took only 1 day of renewed reciprocal teaching to return them to the 85% level achieved during training. Remember that these scores were obtained on privately read assessment passages, that is, different texts that the students read independently after their interaction with the instructor. The learners used what was learned during the instructional sequence independently.”

In the above pilot study, students were helped to understand which strategies were helpful to complete the tasks, to change strategies when needed and how learning flexible strategies positively affected their cognitive growth. Just as Gardner’s multiple intelligences have demonstrated their beneficial effects when applied to the curriculum, understanding about multiple learning strategies has improved teaching, according to Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2000).

How do children view intelligence?

There are two theories developed by psychologists Dweck, Elliot and Leggett:

1)    Entity theory, children believe that intelligence is fixed and cannot be changed. These children do not handle failure very well as they are worried about performing well for themselves and others.

2)    Incremental theories, children believe that intelligence is a work in progress and there is room for growth by working hard.

Children show a natural desire to learn, solve problems, improve and persist. Educational institutions have to take the opportunity to harvest these qualities in children and help them along the way.

The “National Research Council has validated the importance of early reading, through picture book reading that is connected to personal experiences”.(Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R., 2000).  I started reading to my two children when they were able to sit up straight and hold the book by themselves, probably around 8 months. We loved “Carl the Dog” since at that time we had a similarly looking dog. Without words this book was perfect because it allowed variations to the story. As the children became older we also read “The Berenstain Bears” series because they had a true connection to practical situations in a their lives, unlike the Curious George series, which was more appealing to their imagination.

I do not believe in the concept that “children are to be seen and not heard” and I did not raise my children with that philosophy. Engaging in conversations with children develops their sense of self-being, self-confidence and language among other traits. I believe in the power of children’s observation that is why parents are to act as role model.

In the section of “Schooling and Role of questioning” by Bransford, John D., Brown, Ann L., and Cocking, Rodney R., they explore differences in role of questioning between African-American and white middle class parenting in the early 80s and they report great differences. I wonder whether we would obtain the same results if these studies were conducted nowadays considering the fact that on average the Social Economic Status (SES) gap between the white and black population is narrowing.

When it comes to the brain and its power there is no end in sight. I am mesmerized by recent studies on the brain and how they have been able to help educators bring to the table the importance of experience as it relates to brain development. We know that experience impacts: memory, functionality and development of the brain. Mind, brain, experience and learning are intertwined.

There is no doubt that neuroscientific studies are a necessary to the understanding of how people learn. Some key points related to their findings are:

Synaptic pruning.

Neuroscience has demonstrated that the act of learning changes the physical structure of the brain and the process of “pruning” of neurons is necessary for cognitive development. In my first blog I indicated that “our infant brain has the ability of trimming millions of “unnecessary neurons during the first few months of our life, or even better enhance the number of neurons needed to compensate for a deficiency (i.e., blind child who develops excellent hearing).” The process of neuron trimming is directly linked to experiences in a learner’s life.

From: Adolescent Brain Development And Its Effects Published in: Education, Health & Medicine, Business

Apparently during learning our brain is capable of adding synapses, which ultimately affects our memory. Studies on rats have shown that by stimulating their brains the number of synapses increased.

“Experience is important for the development of the brain structure” (Bransford, John D., Brown, Ann L., and Cocking, Rodney R. explore “How People Learn”.)

Experiences shape who we are, before we judge a homeless person begging on the street, let’s think about what kind of childhood experiences he or she may have had...

The brain and language

You know I am a fanatic of language, and anything that can help me better understand how it is acquired, is material for investigation. Neuroscience has helped us look inside the brain and determine which areas are responsible for language output. The below image is very helpful for this purpose as it shows that five different areas of the brain are involved in the process. These areas interact rather than working separately.

??? Did You Know ???

Children under the age of about seven pick up new languages easily without giving it much conscious thought, using procedural (or implicit) memory. Adults, on the other hand, actively learn the rules and vocabulary of a new language using declarative (or explicit) memory.

From: The Brain and Language Mr. McCormick A.P. Psychology, by Cael Mashburn

Our brain is able to distinguish very small sounds or phonemes at a very young age. With age our brain goes through the process of synapses elimination if our experience does not require the use of a sound. In my experience I was trying to learn Arabic and I found it extremely difficult to produce some very guttural sounds typical of this language. Synapses are added as we learn new sounds and during this process our brain is remapped for the use of the language(s) we are used to.

Metacognition and epistemological studies.

Epistemology: from Greek epistēmē ‘knowledge, is the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity (Webster).

Metacognition: “awareness or analysis of one's own learning or thinking processes”(Webster).

As I am reading Deanna Kuhn’s paper on the “Importance of learning about knowing”, I cannot help but to think that to some extent metacognition and epistemology go hand-in-hand. Epistemology is something like asking for a second opinion after having being diagnosed with a condition. Do I believe the first opinion and do I research further? How do I take the information and use it? Subjectively or objectively? Epistemology and critical thinking show similarities. What do you think is best to teach critical thinking or absolutes? I used to challenge my students and ask them whether the believed that Christopher Columbus discovered America? A great deal of conversations stemmed from this topic. I wanted them to be critical and they enjoyed it.

 Do you think that we are born with a critical mind? Psychologist Kuhn sees the challenges of epistemological studies and their implications in education. How do we teach science? As an absolute theory or do we allow a window of personal view and critical thinking? How do learners find validity? As an example, Kuhn presents the two theories behind the dinosaur’s extinction: was extinction caused by a meteor, which hit Earth or a volcanic eruption?  The answer we choose would have to make sense in our minds and we would need to apply two concepts:

1) Understand the source of our information (metacognition)

2) Justify the information we have received (epistemology).

Differences between domain-specific and domain general beliefs.

Mathematics and science for instance are domain specific fields, whereas a domain-general belief applies to various disciplines, such as history or philosophy and psychology. We tend to believe that domain specific subjects do not leave room for epistemological thinking. However there is a trend moving toward the inclusion of epistemology for domain specific fields.

Transfer of newly learned information for later use.

When a student has mastered the use of a new a concept or a particular formula, for instance, it means that he/she has “transferred” it to his pool of knowledge. How do we master a newly acquired knowledge? In my view this process is directly linked to whether a learner uses visual, kinesthetic or auditory skills as well as to the individual’s type of intelligence. I know that my visual memory is predominant, therefore I use it to my advantage by creating images or using images while learning, hence the use of pictures in my blog. I have tried to understand which type of memory dominates in a student, for some of them the use of timelines for learning verb tenses worked perfectly. I also realized that reinforcement was extremely necessary for long-term assimilation. I do have to admit that the most success in retention was shown by those students who were committed to doing extra work on their own. I think those particular students realized that it was important to them, and they had mastered cognitive awareness.

Students decide what is worth learning.

In an ESL classroom, 90% of the students claim that conversational skills are at the top of their “to learn” list. However, students cannot properly converse if they do not possess good listening skills and enough vocabulary. In my experience working on reading and listening skills at the same time are the two primary sources of improvement for conversational skills. I have seen that if I worked on reading first with entry level students, they did better in listening afterwards, on the other hand working on listening first worked well on higher level students. Ultimately I integrated both listening and reading.  While teaching we encounter fixedness or the belief that there is only a one-way street in performing a task (mental or physical). How do we teach learners to think outside the box and to be critical in their learning? For this purpose constructivism may help us in the process. Constructivism in learning sciences, such as psychology or neuroscience, uses constructive strategies to ameliorate the cognitive development of a student. I think how much I have personally gained during the past few weeks from studying neuroscience, psychology and from researching. I have learned more by reading various research studies than reading one book alone. Research studies give us different prospective and challenge fixedness. While doing my own research and applying metacognition and epistemology I had to interact with the world, a process, which Anita Woolfolk calls: “embodied cognition” or “the way we think about and represent information reflects the fact that we need to interact with the world” (Ashcraft & Radvansky, 2010)

Constructivism theories are grounded on the works of Piaget, Vygotsky, Dewey and many more. There have been a couple of “waves” related to this theory, Piaget was at the beginning of the wave and it was followed by Vygotsky. They share a common ground and two common ideas: “Learners are active in their learning and their social interaction is key to their learning as well”. (Woolfolk)

Teachers, be aware of radical constructivism! In a classroom we need to at least present some basic and fundamental concepts and values, upon which students build. If we fall under the radical view we would prevent our students from learning those very basic values, which build our society, i.e., justice and honesty.

Woolfolk tags onto Vygotsky’s theory of learning, which emphasizes situated learning where students learn in the real world about the real world. An internship may be an example of it.  Woolfolk refers to it as: “enculturation” which describes the process of assimilation of a culture.

Psychologist Bruener developed the Spiral Curriculum theory, which exposes students to various subjects at an incremental rate of difficulty, in my opinion there is a similarity to the desirability of difficulty concept we have previously visited.

The Jigsaw Classroom work is explained as “a learning process in which each student is part of a group and each group member is given part of the material to be learned by the whole group. Students become “expert” on their piece and then teach it to the others in their group”. This is a unifying theory, which also works well in a multicultural classroom. I once had the students play a game while using the jigsaw concepts and the comradery that developed from it was quite interesting.

Anita Woolfolk confirms the positive effects of my experience: “Cooperative learning may be an excellent choice for learners developing skills in English as an additional language (EALs), however. The Jigsaw cooperative structure is especially helpful because all students in the group, including the EAL students, have information that the group needs, so they also must talk, explain, and interact. In fact, the Jigsaw approach was developed in response to the need to create high interdependence in diverse groups. In many classrooms today, there are four, five, six, or more languages represented. Teachers can’t be expected to master every heritage language spoken by all of their students every year. In these classrooms, cooperative groups can help as students work together on academic tasks. Students who speak two languages can help translate and explain lessons to others in the group. Speaking in a smaller group may be less anxiety provoking for students who are learning another language; thus, EAL students may get more language practice with feedback in these groups (Smith, 2006).”

The Ted talk by Jane McGonigal: “Gaming can make a better world” somewhat reflects the Jigsaw theory, about cooperation, that togetherness can help us achieve anything, that working together makes us better fighters. Optimism, trust and bonding are feeling triggered by cooperation. Mrs. McGonigal says that: “Games can super-empower individuals…who believe that they are capable of changing virtual worlds not the real world”.

 Many ways of learning… Inquiry learning a theory presented by psychologist John Dewey, has been a successful tactic in my classroom: “Inquiry learning approach in which the teacher presents a puzzling situation and students solve the problem by gathering data and testing their conclusions”.(Woolfolk, 2013) and Problem- based learning instead are “learning methods that provide students with realistic problems that don’t necessarily have “right” answers”. (Woolfolk, 2013). Service learning has several positive effects on students young and adults, second language learners and not. A student is asked to participate in meaningful activities to support his/her own community and be able to talk about it and share with others. I had some students who spent a couple of hours during the weekend to talk to senior citizen in a nearby nursing home. This was an experience they treasured and discussed at length with myself and their classmates. Teachers should encourage service to the community.

That’s all folks.

Ciao,

Cecilia