From Peter Gray on the 'Freedom To Learn' blog
For good evolutionary reasons, some people are highly impulsive.
Last month I posted an essay linking the dramatic increase in diagnosed ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) to our increasingly restrictive system of schooling (see ADHD and School). I presented evidence there that (a) the official, DSM-IV diagnostic criteria [...]
Those without siblings may not lack social skills after all.
It is a widely held stereotype that children who grow up without brothers or sisters may be "oddballs" or "misfits." But new research undermines that notion–suggesting that any deficiency that does exist in only children's social skills when they are young has disappeared by their teens.
The [...]
ScienceDaily (Aug. 9, 2010) — Spanking has declined in the U.S. since 1975 but nearly 80 percent of preschool children are still disciplined in this fashion. In addition, corporal punishment of children remains common worldwide, despite bans on corporal punishment that have been adopted in 24 countries since 1979.
These are some of the more thought-provoking [...]
From Peter Gray & the 'Freedom to Learn' blog
Dear readers,
As I pointed out in my last post, one in every eight boys and one in every twenty-five girls in the US has been diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), and most of them are taking powerful stimulant drugs as treatment. Surveys have shown that most [...]
An active engagement with musical sounds not only enhances neuroplasticity, but also enables the nervous system to provide the stable scaffolding of meaningful patterns so important to learning, researchers say. (Credit: iStockphoto/John Keith)
ScienceDaily (July 20, 2010) — Those ubiquitous wires connecting listeners to you-name-the-sounds from invisible MP3 players — whether of Bach, Miles Davis or, [...]
ScienceDaily (May 10, 2010) — Zero tolerance policy in schools — which can mandate automatic punishment for weapons, drugs, profanity and various forms of disruptive behavior — is failing to make students feel safe, contends a new study by two Michigan State University researchers.
The policy, established in the mid-1990s to address gun violence in schools, [...]
From 'Open Education' blog
Professor Robert Milardo arrived at the University of Maine in Orono in the summer of 1982 after teaching for a couple of years at the University of Southern California. Calling northern Maine a great place to live and his role the perfect job, one with a fair balance of teaching and research [...]
ScienceDaily (Feb. 4, 2010) — Parents take heed: children and young adults are more likely to pursue sports, music or other pastimes when given an opportunity to nurture their own passion. According to a three-part study led by Geneviève Mageau, a psychology professor at the Université de Montréal, parental control can predict whether a child [...]
Research
ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2010) — Those who value excellence and hard work generally do better than others on specific tasks when they are reminded of those values. But when a task is presented as fun, researchers report, the same individuals often will do worse than those who say they are less motivated to achieve.
The study [...]
LONDON (Reuters) – They've never known a world without the Internet, but they still prefer to meet their friends offline.
A new survey of eight to 14-year-old Europeans by U.S. entertainment, film and theme park company Walt Disney Co showed that the children of Generation X are web-savvy, videogame-playing environmentalists who love their parents.
The survey of [...]
