HowtheBrainProcessesInformation:Memory,attentionandlearning

Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D. IDEA, Universidad San Francisco de Quito

UDLA, Quito Mayo 2010

  “Mind,Brain,andEducation(MBE)Scienceisthenewandimprovedbrain‐basedlearning.Itisthescientificallysubstantiatedartofteaching.Itistheintersectionofneuroscience,education,andpsychology.Anditisaparadigmshiftinformaleducation…”(p.22)

"TraceyTokuhama‐Espinosa’sbookisnotonlyanexcellentguideforteachers,amostneededreviewofthecuttingedgeresearchonneuroeducation,butalsoamodelofpedagogy.TheauthorhasdoneagenerousefforttoguidethereadersstepbystepinthefascinatingexplorationofthenewtransdisciplinaryfieldcalledMBE,Mind,BrainandEducation.Irecommendthisbooktoeveryteacher.Itwillclarifymanyissuesandpromotemanyeducationalinitiatives."‐AntonioM.Battro,MD,PhDPresidentofIMBES,InternationalMind,BrainandEducationSociety

“TraceyTokuhama‐Espinosahaswrittenahighlyaccessible,extraordinarilywell‐documentedcompilationofessentialinformationforalleducators.Shefirmlyestablishesthelinksbetweenneuroscienceandpsychologyprovidesthebackgroundknowledgeneededtoevaluateresearchforvalidity.Indoingso,TraceyTokuhama‐Espinosaofferstheimportantprinciplesteacherscanfollowtobecriticalconsumers.Theexposuresoftheneuromyths,thathaveplaguedoptimalprogressintheincorporationofappropriatelysupportedresearchintoourtextbooks,teachereducation,andclassroomstrategies,isaccompaniedwithtoolsfordifferentiatingbetweenvalidresearchinterpretationsandfutureneuromyths.Readerswillbevitalresourcesforstudents,colleagues,andthefutureofoureducationalsystem.Thisbreakthroughbookguidesinformeddecisionmakingusingthebestsciencehastooffertoreturnjoyandauthenticlearningtoourclassrooms.”‐JudyWillis,M.D.,M.Ed,neurologist,middleschoolteacher,authorandrenownedspeakeronbrain‐basededucation

Today’sfocus1.  Assumptions2.  Definitions:

  Neurogenesis  Neuroplasticity

3.  Memory4.  Attention5.  Learningandclassroom

implications:Whateveryteachershouldknow

Background Master’sfromHarvardUniversityinInternationalEducationandDevelopmentanddoctorate(Ph.D.)fromCapellaUniversity(cross‐disciplinaryapproachcomparingfindingsinneuroscience,psychology,pedagogy,culturalanthropologyandlinguistics).Bachelor’sofArts(InternationalRelations)andBachelor’sofScience(Communications)fromBostonUniversity,magnacumlaude.

  DirectoroftheInstituteforResearchandEducationalDevelopment(IDEA),UniversidadSanFranciscodeQuito,EcuadorandprofessorofEducationandNeuropsychology.

  Teacher(pre‐kindergartenthroughuniversity)with22yearsofcomparativeresearchexperienceandsupporttohundredsofschoolsin17countries.

There is an explosion in research about the brain that is changing how we think about learning and education.

"We know a little of what goes on in the brain when we learn, but hardly anything about what goes on in the brain when we teach," (Blakemore & Frith, 2008, p.118).

Inbrief Concepts from Mind, Brain, and Education science,

commonly referred in the popular press as “brain-based learning,” have been applied indiscreetly and inconsistently to classroom teaching practices for many years.

 While standards exist in neuroscience, psychology and pedagogy, until recently there were no agreed upon standards in their intersection, Mind, Brain, and Education science. Some of these standards will be discussed today.

Assump8ons1.  The new academic discipline in discussion is the

intersection of neuroscience, education and psychology.

2.  The focus is equally balanced between knowledge of how humans learn and how best to teach.

3.  Education is not a “one-size-fits-all” practice (recipe approach).

4.  The first rule of Education is the same as that of Medicine: “Do no harm.”

Goodteachingmethodologiesandac8vi8escancomefrom….   …a single discipline

  …bilateral cooperation between disciplines

  …multiple disciplines

  However, the more academic fields that offer support for a teaching methodology or activity, the more credible it is.

Wheredoesthisinforma8oncomefrom?

Dissertation 1.  Grounded Theory development based on a meta-

analysis of the literature (1977-2008), over 4,500 documents reviewed (2,266).

2.  New Model developed. 3.  Delphi expert panel (20 experts from six

countries) discussed 11 topics (25; 7) in three rounds.

4.  New Model modified. 5.  Comparison with existing literature.

DelphiPar8cipants  Daniel Ansari   Michael Atherton   Jane Bernstein   Sarah Jayne Blakemore   Renate Nummela-

Caine   Donna Coch   David Daniel   Stanislas Dehaene   Marian Diamond   Kurt Fischer   John Geake

  Usha Goswami   Christina Hinton   Mary Helen

Immordino-Yang   Eric Jensen   Jelle Jolles

  Michael Posner

  Marc Schwartz

  Rita Smilkstein

  David Sousa

  Judy Willis

 Virginia Berninger  John T. Bruer  Howard Gardner  Paul Howard-Jones  Hideaki Koizumi

Neuroscientists

Psychologists

Educators

TopicsResearchedinMind,Brain,andScienceEduca8on

1.  Neuroimaging 2.  Neurotransmitters and Chemicals 3.  Neurogenesis and Plasticity 4.  Theories of Consciousness 5.  Beliefs about Intelligence 6.  New Learning Theories 7.  Neuroethics 8.  Learning Differences 9.  Mind-Body Connection

a.  Sleep b.  Physical Exercise c.  Nutrition

MajorBrainFunc8onsintheResearch

1.  Art 2.  Creativity 3.  Language 4.  Reading 5.  Math 6.  Music 7.  Science

1.  Affect and Empathy 2.  Emotions 3.  Motivation 4.  Attention 5.  Executive Functions and/or

Decision-Making 6.  Facial Recognition and

Interpretation 7.  Memory 8.  Social Cognition 9.  Spatial Management 10.  Time Management

School Subjects Life Skills

ElevenAreasDiscussedbytheExperts

1.  Name of the emerging field; 2.  Academic roots; 3.  Definition of terms; 4.  The overarching research, practice and policy goals of the emerging field; 5.  History; 6.  Thought leaders; 7.  Steps to judging quality information; 8.  Organizations and societies qualified to judge the information; 9.  BELIEFS AND NEUROMYTHS (today’s focus); 10.  Enhanced communication between professionals in the parent disciplines; 11.  Design of a new Master’s program to meet the needs of new professionals in

the emerging field.

For complete dissertation, email tracey.tokuhama@gmail.com

TheNewModel

  The categorization of neuromyths and the beliefs agreed upon by the Delphi expert panel pointed to the main tenets and principles of Mind, Brain, and Education science.

  The tenets are relative to each individual learner while the principles are important in the same way for all learners.

  The tenets and principles define the instructional guidelines of the field.

Beliefs and Myths

Principles Tenets

Instructional Guidelines

The Foundations of Instructional Guidelines in the New Model

Categoriza8oncriteria

In Understanding the brain: The birth of a learning science, (OECD, 2002)* the authors propose a continuum of four categories of information quality.

*OECD= 30 countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxemburg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.

CriteriausedtocategorizeconceptsCategories: A.  What is well-established (i.e. plasticity, which now has

hundreds of credible human studies behind it); B.  What is probably so (i.e., sensitive periods, which has

hundreds of studies behind it, though not all conducted on humans);

C.  What is intelligent speculation (i.e., gender differences, which has thousands of studies behind it, albeit of mixed quality and sometimes with contradictory findings); and

D.  What is popular misconception or a neuromyth (i.e., "right brain" and "left brain" discussion, which has been the target of thousands of books and articles, some of which promote the term, but most of which criticize the lack of factual accuracy of the claim).

76Educa8onalConcepts

5 19 24 28

concepts concepts concepts concepts

Well-established Probably so Intelligent speculation Neuromyth

ConceptualAssump8ons

Ques8on:

Attention+Memory=Learning?

Probablyso:ATen8on+Memory=Learning

 Tolearnsomethingnewmeansyouhavetopayattentiontoit,andtorememberit.

 Declarativememorydependsonbeingabletopayattention.

  It is impossible for a student not to pay attention if (s)he is the protagonist of the activity. However, it is very easy to get distracted when the attention is focused on others.

Defini8ons

Neurogenesis(“newbirth”)

 Neurogenesisistheproductionofcellsinthenervoussysteminthebrain(neurons)andglialcells.Mostnotableinneo‐natalstages,butoccursthroughoutthelifespan.

  Inhumans,neurogenesishasbeendocumentedmostnotablyintheolfactorybulbandhippocampus.

Neurogenesis

 Neuogenesisinmammalswasestablishedin1992,anddocumentedinhumansin1998.

Eriksson P.S., Perfilieva, E., Björk-Eriksson, T., et al. (November 1998). Neurogenesis in the adult human hippocampus. Nature Medicine,4 (11). 1313–1317.

Myth:Neuronsareneverreplaced

 This myth is defied by the existence of neurogenesis.

Myth:Learningcanbeop8mizedif8medwithneurogenesis.

  This is a myth because learning takes place with or without neurogenesis.

  You cannot anticipate moments of neurogenesis.

  There is no evidence that better learning occurs with “new” versus “old” neurons.

Synaptogenesis“newsynapses”

 Theformationofsynapsisbetweenneurons.

1.Humanbrain(model)2.Cutofahumanbrain(real)3.Neuronsinahumanbrain(real)4.Synapsesbetweenneurons(model)

1.

3.

http://www.willamette.edu/~gorr/classes/cs449/figs/brain2.jpg; http://www.alzheimers-brace.org/images/brain_images.jpg

2.

4.

“Hebbiansynapse”

  “Useitorloseit.”

Myth:Youleanmoreifyou8melessonswithperiodsofsynaptogenesis.

 This is a myth because learning causes synaptogenesis (not the other way around).

(Neuro)plas8city

 Theabilityofthebraintore‐wireitselfusingnon‐traditionalpathwaysifa“normal”routeisdamagedorblocked.

(Neuro)plas8city

Plas8city:Aparadigmshicinhowwelookatthebrain

 BEFOREwebelievedin“localizationism”whichwenowknowisanoversimplifiedvisionofthebrain.

Plas8cityWenowknowthat….  “weseewithourbrains,notwithoureyes.”*

Example:Seeingwithtongue(Bach‐y‐Rita).  “Childrenarenotalwaysstuckwiththe

mentalabilitiestheyarebornwith;thatthedamagedbraincanoftenreorganizeitselfsothatwhenonepartfails,anothercanoftensubstitute;thatisbraincellsdie,theycanattimesbereplaced;thatmany‘circuits’andevenbasicreflexesthatwethinkarehardwiredarenot.”**

  MichelMerzenich;NormanDoidge;PaulBach‐y‐Rita

*Doidge (2007, p.14).;** Doidge (2007, p.xv).

Myth:Plas8cityisduetogoodpedagogy

  This is a myth because plasticity is a natural neural process and occurs with or without good pedagogy.

  Examples: addiction, racism.

Memory

Ques8on:Trueorfalse?

“Thebrainchangesdailywithexperience.”

Wellestablished:Thebrainchangesconstantlywithexperience

  “The brain is a complex, dynamic, and integrated system that is constantly changed by experience, though most of this change is only evident at a microscopic level.”

  You will go to bed tonight with a different brain with which you awoke. Each smell, sight, taste and touch you experience and each feeling you have can alter the physical form of your brain. The complexity and dynamic nature of the brain remind teachers that even when they feel they are not reaching students, they may very well be changing them, bit by bit.

Ques8on:TrueorFalse?

“PastinformationinEluenceshowwelearnsomethingnew.”

Well‐established:Influenceofpastknowledge

  “Connecting new information to prior knowledge facilitates learning.”

  We learn better and faster when we relate new information to things that we already know.

Intelligentspecula8on:Memory  “Different memory systems (i.e., short term-, long

term-, working-, spatial-, motor-, modality-specific-, rote-, etc.) receive and process information in different ways and are retrieved through distinct, though sometimes overlapping, neural pathways.”

  Human memory is a complex system and it is vital for learning. Information is stored and retrieved in various forms, implying that teachers should vary their methods of instruction in order to create a variety of pathways through which it can be retrieved, thus facilitating the recall process. (e.g., Multiple Intelligences Theory instructional practices) Not yet well-established because documentation in classroom contexts using neuroscientific criteria is sparse.

Intelligentspecula8on:Exis8ngknowledge

  “Human learning is a constructive process in that humans construct meaning from existing knowledge structures. Such existing knowledge structures are individually defined.”

  People take past experiences and make conceptual building blocks from them, upon which new knowledge is developed. The building metaphor is the basis for the constructivist philosophy of education. While proven in education and psychology, not yet well-established because documentation in neuroscience is sparse.

Neuromyth:“Memoryislikeanobjec8verecordingofasitua8on,andrealityexistsinanabstractformforalltoperceive.”   This is a neuromyth because

individual human memories are not recorded as if stored on a hard drive, but are rather influenced by the experiences of the learner.

  The filters through which events are recalled are subject to false recollection and/or misinterpretation.

Neuromyth:“Thebrainrememberseverythingithaseverexperienced;forgegng

issimplyanabsenceofrecallability.”   While forgetting is an absence

of recall, the brain does not necessarily remember everything that it has ever experienced. Only information that has moved from working to long-term memory (in its many forms) is retrievable is remembered.

Memory

 Therearevarioustypesofmemory:  Longterm

  Declarative  Procedural

 Working  Shortterm  Emotional  Episodic

Requirementsforlong‐termmemory

  Forinformationtogetintolong‐termmemoryithastohaveatleastoneofthreetraits:1.  Survival2. Association3. Emotionalorpersonalvalue

Three things that are easy to remember.

Three things that are hard to remember.

Thinkabout…

Probablyso:Sleep  “Sleep is important for declarative memory

consolidation, (though other types of memories, such as emotional memories, can be achieved without sleep). Sleep deprivation also has a negative impact on memory.”

  Lack of sleep compromises one’s abilities to be attentive and to organize mental activity efficiently and effectively.

  Memory consolidation is dependent on REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.

  Without a good night’s sleep, memory is compromised. Not yet well-established because there are only a few studies available on school-age populations.

Strategiestoremember ….? Repetition Elaboration Association Timelines  Sensoryvariation Other?

Probablyso:Novelty

  “Human brains seek and often quickly detect novelty, (which is individually defined).”

  We are quick to notice things that are out of place or different, and we actually unconsciously look for things that don’t belong. (e.g., “2+3=5” and “5-3=2”) Not yet well-established because the individual nature of “novelty” makes it hard to study.

Probablyso:PaTerning  “Human brains seek patterns upon which they

predict outcomes, and neural systems form responses to repeated patterns of activation (patterns being individually defined).”

  We categorize our world in ways that help us understand information. Part of how we do this relates to designing patterns for the things we find. These patterns are like a road map that tells us where to go next. This road map is the neural system for that group of like experiences. (e.g., math, writing genres, social interactions, etc.) While proven in neuroscience and psychology, not yet well-established because of the limited number of classroom studies.

Probablyso:Rehearsal  “The rehearsal of retrieval cues aids in

declarative memory processes.”   While memory can be created by

emotionally shocking experiences, declarative memory (associated with school learning) is improved through rehearsal. This is why the use of mnemonic cues (including repetition and rehearsal) improves the ability to retrieve information. (e.g., “good” homework; explicitly teaching mnemonic devices, etc.) Not yet well-established because of lack of consensus on what type of rehearsal aids memory best.

Probablyso:Elabora8on  “The elaboration (overt teaching)

of key concepts facilitates new learning.”

  Teachers achieve better results if they give explicit explanations of the core concepts. (e.g., priming, use of concepts, assessment of concept knowledge, and re-teaching of concepts) While proven in psychology, not yet well-established because not enough studies available in classroom contexts.

ATen8on

ATen8on

 Howlongistheaverageattentionspan?

ATen8on

Attentionspans

  Recognizethatstudentshaveanaverage10‐20minutemaximumattentionspan.

Inprac(ce:

  Thismeansthatteachersneedtochangetheperson,placeoractivityevery10‐20minutestomaintainahighlevelofattention.

“Primacy‐Recency”

ThePrimacy‐RecenyEffect

  Peoplerememberbestwhathappensfirst,secondbestwhathappenslast,andleastwhathappensinthemiddle.

Inprac(ce:

  Thismeansthatmomentsinthe“middle”shouldbededicatedtostudent‐centeredpractice.

Inprac(ce:

  Thelastpartoftheclassshouldbededicatedtosummarizingimportantconceptsandbridgingtonextclass.

Classroomimplica8ons:

Whateveryteacherneedstoknow…

Thereten8onofnewinforma8on  Dependingonthechosenmethodology,studentshavevarying

attentionlevels.

  Thebestwaytolearnanythingis….

Reten8onvarieswithmethod:

National Training Laboratories, Maine, as cited in Sousa (2000).

Reten8onvarieswithmethod:

  REMEMBER:JustbecauseyoutaughtsomethingdoesNOTmeantheylearnedit!

  Studentsneedexposuretonewconceptsbetween10‐59timesto“getit”!

Inprac(ce:TheLawof10:1.  Presentthenewconcept2.  Giveanexample3.  Askstudentstoexplaintheconcept4.  Clarifydoubts5.  Designanactivityinwhichtheconceptisusedbythe

student6.  Reviewresultsoftheactivityandclarifyconcept7.  Sendhomeworkthatappliestheconcept8.  Reviewhomeworkinclass9.  Clarifydoubtsabouttheconcept10. Designanactivitythatappliestheconceptordirectuse

oftheconceptbystudent.

Inprac(ce:

  Ifyouuselecture,useitwisely(clarificationofcoreconcepts).

Inprac(ce:

 Homeworkshouldbeusedtoreinforcethenewideasandconcepts.

Bestprac8ce…  Bestpracticeactivitieshavecertaintraits:

  Student‐centered  Experiential  Holistic  Authentic  Expressive  Reflexive  Social

• Collaborative• Democratic• Cognitive• Developmental• Constructivist• Challenging• (Fun)

Inprac(ce:

  Activitiesthathaveoneormoreoftheaforementionedcharacteristicsaremorelikelytohaveanimpactandcreatesignificantlearningexperiences.

Examplesofbestprac8ceac8vi8es….?

10GuidesforBeTerTeaching

Guide1:LearningenvironmentsThebestlearningenvironments

provide:  Emotionalandphysicalsecurity

  Respect  Intellectualliberty  Self‐directedexperiences  Pacedchallenges  Feedback  Activelearning

(Billington, 1997)

Guide2:Sense,MeaningandTransfer

Studentstendtolearnbetterwhen…  …coursecontentmakessense

  …hasaclearlogic  …hassignificanceintheirlives.

Guide3:Differentmemorypathways

  Longtermmemorydependsonlinkinginformationto…  survivalneeds  pastknowledge(association)

  values,emotionsorinterests

Guide 4: Attention limits

  Rememberthatstudents’attentionspansareonly10‐20minuteslong.

  Remembertochangetheactivity,place,ormainpersonoffocusfrequently.

Guide 5: Social learning Thebrainisasocialorganandpeoplelearnbetterwhentheycan“bounce”ideasoffofoneanother.

Guide6:Mind‐BodyConcepts

  Studentslearnbetterwhentheneedsofthebodyandmindarebothsatisfied.Thisincludessleep,dietandphysicalexerciseneeds.

Guide7:Teachermetaphor:Orquestradirector Theteachercanbeseenasanorchestradirectorwhoknowshowtointegratethedifferentvoices,soundsandtalentsofeachmember.

Guide8:Ac8veproceses

  Studentslearnbestwhentheycanparticipateactivelyintheirownlearning.

  “Ihear,Iforget;Isee,Iunderstand;Ido,Iremember.”

Guide9:Meta‐cogni8onySelf‐reflec8on  Torememberbest,itisnecessarytoreflectuponourexperiences.

  Giventhevastamountofinformationthatstudentsarebombardedwithdaily,itisimportanttogivethem“downtime”toprocess.

Guide10:Learningacrossthelifespan

 Thebrainhastheabilitytolearnacrossthelifespan.

  Forthisreason,whileitisimportanttotakeadvantageofsensitiveperiodsinchildhood,weshouldalsorecognizethatwecanlearnintooldage.

Ques8ons?

Formoreinforma8on:Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D. Universidad San Francisco de Quito Casa Corona Telf: 297-1700 x1338 desarrolloprofesional@usfq.edu.ec

Bibliography

  For a list of more than 2000 book related to this study see: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/pqdt.shtml y el nombre “Tokuhama-Espinosa” (gratis).

  You can find this presentation on: www.educacionparatodos.com