Dyslexia screenings will help students succeed

 http://www.semissourian.com/story/2320028.html

I think the title of this article is very interesting. I like how positive and optimistic it sounds. And I like the attitude adopted by the education authorities here. It is not just about screening, but also involves providing at least partial aid to those who are found to be dyslexic. I'm sure it is not the final answer to the problem. It might not even be a right answer, but at least they are doing something.
I am inclined to think that the real answer will require some kind of basic changes to the way we think about education; maybe some way to provide alternative routes through the curriculum; maybe an even more basic change in the contents of the curriculum.
I remember once listening to a lecturer in Liverpool who said that those with dyslexia would probably be seen as geniuses in some future where technology reduced the dependence on text for the transfer of knowledge and information. He also made the point that reading was a rare skill in the middle ages and that dyslexia would not have been such a barrier then.

Carol Dweck - A Simple Shift In Thinking Can Increase Success

I have just been reading an article about Carol Dweck and her book Mindset. This whole idea seems to have grown from her early work on attribution theory which I remember reading about when I was studying psychology back in 1998.


In her book she suggest that there are two default mindsets: fixed and growth. In the fixed mindset, people think their talents and abilities are fixed. If you think this way, then you worry about them and try to validate them, limiting you.

In contrast, when you embrace a growth mindset, you believe that your talents and abilities can be developed through hard work, good strategy and mentoring, she said. 

But of course people do not exclusively use one mindset or the other. Different situations produce different mindsets which govern the behaviour or response to that situation. It is obvious that she believes the growth mindset to be a more effective way to respond to life's challenges.

Because people are a mix of both fixed and growth mindsets, the key to improving performance is to understand what triggers a fixed mindset, she said.

To change this thought process, "You have to start by finding your fixed-mindset trigger. Listen to the situation; when you start feeling your ability is fixed or limited. Just accept it at first, just listen to it. Then you start working with it. You can give your fixed mindset a name; it could be your father or your aunt. Who is that person [that discourages you]? Start talking to that voice. Reason with your persona: 'Thank you for looking out for me, but I'd really like to try this,'" she said

My two favourite quotes from the article are:

"You don't know what your abilities are until you make a full commitment to developing them."

"They may create a culture of genius where people compete with each other to look smart, instead of learn."

You can read the full article here.

Albert Bandura again

Another quote from Albert:

"Accomplishment is socially judged by ill defined criteria so that one has to rely on others to find out how one is doing."

I usually dislike statements that generalise and oversimplify human behaviour. But this sentence rings true even after I have thought about it for a while. Even my personal eccentricities have a certain degree of social acceptability about them, and just serve to make me stand out a bit more from the crown. But not to the extent that I am perceived as a weirdo.
But then what about the weirdos? Are they the exception to this statement? And yet the few 'weirdos' I can think of tend to belong to a small group of like-minded people. I'm sure that most of us don't want to be lonely. And one way to avoid that is to fit in with a group and accept their criteria as a measure of your accomplishments.
Maybe!

Albert Bandura

A quote from Albert Bandura which I spotted on the wikipedia page as I was skimming quickly through it:

"Most of the images of reality on which we base our actions are really based on vicarious experience."

So that means that many of our behaviours are not based on our own experience, but on other peoples' descriptions of their experiences? I wonder?

The Migrant Crisis

There is so much hype and counter-hype, so much scare-mongering and rumour-spreading about the whole "migrant crisis" that it is a relief to come across an article that treats the problem sensibly and at the same time acknowledging that it is a problem that really needs us to develop a sense of compassion.

Although there are huge problems involved in tackling the situation, one thing for sure is that we cannot decide that there is no solution. If we ignore the political posturing and grandstanding, we can come up with some kind of solution. But the problem then is whether the political will exists to apply the solution. Hopefully so.

http://phys.org/news/2016-05-bit-numeracy-asylum-debate.html

Mapping Language In The Brain

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have built a "semantic atlas" that shows in vivid colours and multiple dimensions how the human brain organizes language. The atlas identifies brain areas that respond to words that have similar meanings. They show that at least one-third of the brain's cerebral cortex, including areas dedicated to high-level cognition, is involved in language processing. Notably, the study found that different people share similar language maps.

(read the full article at www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160427150335.htm)

Detailed maps showing how the brain organizes different words by their meanings could eventually help give voice to those who cannot speak, such as victims of stroke or brain damage, or motor neuron diseases such as ALS.

One person’s right cerebral hemisphere. The overlaid words, when heard in context, are predicted to evoke strong responses near the corresponding location. Green words are mostly visual and tactile, red words are mostly social. Illustration: Copyright Alexander Huth / The Regents of the University of California

Aiming For Perfection

In 1997, Michael Jordan said in the Nike ads, "I've failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

John Dunn, psychology researcher at the University of Alberta is investigating the construct of perfectionism and how athletes strive towards the high personal standards they set. "There are essentially two types of perfectionist - one strives for perfection and the other demands it," he says. "When one strives for perfection, and can accept that mistakes are part of the process, failure can be quite motivating. On the other hand, we know that perfection is almost unattainable; therefore, a lot of bad things can come from demanding it."

Dunn notes that much of the bad form of perfectionism comes from growing up in an environment in which love was conditional upon meeting parents' standards. In his work, Dunn educates parents and coaches to reinforce effort and personal development as opposed to meeting the personal standards of someone else.

My favourite quote from this article is "Athletes need to convince themselves that they have failed only if they failed to learn."

You can read the full article here http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-04-athletes-loss.html

The possibility of using virtual games reality to alleviate pain

Interesting !!!

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-04-possibility-virtual-games-reality-alleviate.html

The Gamification of Life

I came across this article ( http://phys.org/news/2016-04-gamified.html ) describing how, in Malaysia, the Education Department are trying to improve higher education by emphasising certain principles of gaming in order to foster interest and improve standards.

I came across some software by a company called Lucid some years ago which did the same thing for assessing dyslexia and other learning problems here in the UK. Also, I remember when I was at college (quite a few years ago) one teacher achieved a bit of local fame by using a clip from an episode of "The Simpsons" in his dyslexia assessments. There was also a game available online to help people learning French language. In it you were a knight exploring a land, battling dragons and other beasts, and conquering other knights and castles (similar to 'Age of Empires' but very basic as it had been written by an individual developer as a hobby).



I don't think this idea is all that new, although I do think the technology for game development has improved to make the implementation a lot easier and more sophisticated. And it is such a popular idea, to make learning and development fun, that I think we will see a lot more of this, especially when the VR kits become more responsive (and cheaper). Maybe therapy through completing certain character quests in games, improving health with new and more entertaining mobile apps on your smart watch, improving productivity in the workplace, language learning, developing creativity - any area of improvement and development.

FOMO, FOBO and NoMo

For many of us, the idea of an 'online life' is simply an adjunct to our real lives - a bit like wondering how much time we spend watching tv, or reading, or in the gym. But the use of smartphones and tablets is becoming more and more a part of everything we do, from simply communicating to researching, entertaining, guiding and cueing behaviours. I recently came across this article which seems to be a step towards keeping it all in perspective.

'The Australian Psychological Society issued its Stress and Wellbeing in Australia report last year, which included a section on social media that found 56 per cent of teens were heavy social media users, connecting more than five times per day, with 24 per cent being constantly connected. Sixty per cent felt brain 'burnout' from constant connectivity of social media.

Ms Lishman, an Australian psychologist, said people were becoming genuinely addicted to their devices, because of the rush generated by positive reinforcements and messages from friends.

Another psychologist, Ms Thornton, said parents had a vital role to play in dealing with this situation. "It is critically important to create a household where you have guidelines about what is OK and what is not OK, and to limit use, restrict inappropriate sites and foster a family environment," she said. "And parents have the power because they have the money. Who is paying for the internet connection? Turn the modem off overnight, have a password on the account that only you know; unless we put boundaries in place there will be huge repercussions."

"We can't do without technology now. And there are good things on the internet, but a virtual relationship is no match for a real, physical relationship." '

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-03/psychologists-scramble-to-keep-up-with-social-media-addiction/7293862

Reading Too Much Into It?

I am inclined to spend too much time reading. So, as well as all the fiction I am reading at the moment (mostly fantasy), I am also reading "The Uses Of Enchantment" by Bruno Bettelheim, "How Life Imitates Chess" by Gary Kaparov, and "The Shadow Of The Object" by Christopher Bollas.  I have also just picked up a copy of "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell, but have not started that one yet.

I think it is interesting how certain ideas and themes can repeat themselves in slightly different ways in these books. At the moment, the idea that seems to be jumping out at me is the need for careful reflection and self-awareness if we are to grow and mature in any way. Kasparov emphasises this a lot in his book. He does not believe that there is a formula for success that will apply to everyone (beyond the idea of hard work and self-awareness - and that he says is not a formula). Bettelheim also feels that people have a tendency to assume that age will bring maturity and wisdom. But, without reflection and an intention to improve ourselves in some way, that will just make us older versions of our younger selves, with the same weaknesses, preferences and habits.

And I think this is partly why I started out with this blog. I wanted to get into the habit of thinking and writing about life - my life, in particular - and I wanted to do something a bit different to my usual diary or journal writing, which seems to have gotten into a repetitive rut for now.

Is More Education Good For You?

Just looking through some recent research summaries online and found this interesting report on the effects of increasing the ages for compulsory education. I know it is not the full story (I don't suppose any researcher could afford the level of commitment and finance needed for such a study) but at least it is not a knee-jerk and non-reflective response to the idea of extra education.

New research presented this week at the Royal Economic Society Conference from our Department of Social & Policy Science questions the commonly held belief that more education is 'good for you' and results in higher wages and better life outcomes.

Previous work on this question generally suggested that the effect of 1972 school leaving age reform was positive; more recent estimates have challenged the magnitude of such effects suggesting a downward revision from 15% to 5%. But none of these studies examined the early parts of the life-cycle, concentrating only on the later working years.

But when comparing the lifetime wage trajectories of individuals who were born shortly before and shortly after the reform, the authors find that those with additional education suffered significantly lower wages in the first part of their working lives. On average, men with additional education suffered lower earnings until they were aged mid-30s. Post mid-30s wage differentials were non-significant.

Importantly, the authors argue that this negative effect is induced by the loss of early labour market experience and that previous studies did not adequately deal with this phenomenon. When correcting for this, the authors identify that the effect of education remains positive and significant.

Dr Buscha added: "Our research shows that it is important that when designing school leaving age reforms, such as the recent Raising of the Participation Age, that children are not only made to learn useful skills during this additional education but that practical arrangements are made to smooth integration into the labour market such that the negative effects of lost work experience are kept to a minimum."

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-03-wont-necessarily-richer-reveals.html#jCp

The Uses of Fairy Tales

I have just started reading "The Uses Of Enchantment" by Bruno Bettelheim. It has some really interesting ideas already, and some really complicated ones also. But what struck me today is an article I came across on phys.org where a recent study found that most fairy tales have a much longer history than previously believed. One story in particular, "The Smith & The Devil" can be traced back to the bronze age.
http://phys.org/news/2016-01-phylogenetic-analyses-fairy-tales-older.html