HowtheBrainProcessesInformation: Memory,attentionandlearning

Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D. IDEA, Universidad San Francisco de Quito UDLA, Quito Mayo 2010

 Mind,Brain,andEducation

(MBE)Scienceisthenewand improvedbrainbased learning.Itisthescientically substantiatedartofteaching. Itistheintersectionof neuroscience,education,and psychology.Anditisa paradigmshiftinformal education(p.22)

"TraceyTokuhamaEspinosasbookisnotonlyanexcellentguideforteachers,amost neededreviewofthecuttingedgeresearchonneuroeducation,butalsoamodelof pedagogy.Theauthorhasdoneagenerouseorttoguidethereadersstepbystepinthe fascinatingexplorationofthenewtransdisciplinaryeldcalledMBE,Mind,Brainand Education.Irecommendthisbooktoeveryteacher.Itwillclarifymanyissuesandpromote manyeducationalinitiatives." AntonioM.Battro,MD,PhD PresidentofIMBES,InternationalMind,BrainandEducationSociety TraceyTokuhamaEspinosahaswrittenahighlyaccessible,extraordinarilywell documentedcompilationofessentialinformationforalleducators.Shermlyestablishes thelinksbetweenneuroscienceandpsychologyprovidesthebackgroundknowledge neededtoevaluateresearchforvalidity.Indoingso,TraceyTokuhamaEspinosaoersthe importantprinciplesteacherscanfollowtobecriticalconsumers.Theexposuresofthe neuromyths,thathaveplaguedoptimalprogressintheincorporationofappropriately supportedresearchintoourtextbooks,teachereducation,andclassroomstrategies,is accompaniedwithtoolsfordierentiatingbetweenvalidresearchinterpretationsand futureneuromyths.Readerswillbevitalresourcesforstudents,colleagues,andthefuture ofoureducationalsystem.Thisbreakthroughbookguidesinformeddecisionmakingusing thebestsciencehastooertoreturnjoyandauthenticlearningtoourclassrooms. JudyWillis,M.D.,M.Ed,neurologist,middleschoolteacher,authorandrenownedspeaker onbrainbasededucation

Todaysfocus
1. Assumptions 2. Denitions: Neurogenesis Neuroplasticity 3. Memory 4. Attention 5. Learningandclassroom

implications:Whatevery teachershouldknow

Background
MastersfromHarvardUniversityin

InternationalEducationandDevelopmentand doctorate(Ph.D.)fromCapellaUniversity(cross disciplinaryapproachcomparingndingsin neuroscience,psychology,pedagogy,cultural anthropologyandlinguistics).BachelorsofArts (InternationalRelations)andBachelorsof Science(Communications)fromBoston University,magnacumlaude.

DirectoroftheInstituteforResearchand

EducationalDevelopment(IDEA),Universidad SanFranciscodeQuito,Ecuadorandprofessorof EducationandNeuropsychology.

Teacher(prekindergartenthroughuniversity)

with22yearsofcomparativeresearchexperience andsupporttohundredsofschoolsin17 countries.

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. 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.

While standards exist in neuroscience, psychology and

Assump8ons
1. 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.

Goodteaching methodologiesand ac8vi8escancome from.

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 metaanalysis 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 NummelaCaine 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,and ScienceEduca8on
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
School Subjects
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Life Skills
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Art Creativity Language Reading Math Music Science

Affect and Empathy Emotions Motivation Attention Executive Functions and/or Decision-Making Facial Recognition and Interpretation Memory Social Cognition Spatial Management Time Management

ElevenAreasDiscussedbytheExperts
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

Name of the emerging field; Academic roots; Definition of terms; The overarching research, practice and policy goals of the emerging field; History; Thought leaders; Steps to judging quality information; Organizations and societies qualified to judge the information; BELIEFS AND NEUROMYTHS (todays focus); Enhanced communication between professionals in the parent disciplines; Design of a new Masters program to meet the needs of new professionals in the emerging field.
For complete dissertation, email tracey.tokuhama@gmail.com

The Foundations of Instructional Guidelines in the New Model

TheNew Model

Instructional Guidelines

Principles

Tenets

Beliefs and Myths

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.

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.

Criteriausedtocategorizeconcepts
Categories: 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
Well-established Probably so Intelligent speculation Neuromyth

5 concepts

19 concepts

24 concepts

28 concepts

ConceptualAssump8ons

Ques8on:
Attention+Memory= Learning?

Probablyso:

ATen8on+Memory=Learning
Tolearnsomethingnewmeans

youhavetopayattentiontoit, andtorememberit. Declarativememorydependson beingabletopayattention.

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.

Deni8ons

Neurogenesis
(newbirth)
Neurogenesisistheproductionofcellsinthenervous

systeminthebrain(neurons)andglialcells.Most notableinneonatalstages,butoccursthroughout thelifespan. Inhumans,neurogenesishasbeendocumentedmost notablyintheolfactorybulbandhippocampus.

Neurogenesis
Neuogenesisin

mammalswas establishedin1992, anddocumentedin humansin1998.

Eriksson P.S., Perfilieva, E., Bjrk-Eriksson, T., et al. (November 1998). Neurogenesis in the adult human hippocampus. Nature Medicine,4 (11). 13131317.

Myth:Neuronsareneverreplaced

This myth is defied by

the existence of neurogenesis.

Myth:Learningcanbeop8mizedif8med withneurogenesis.
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

Theformationof

synapsisbetween neurons.

1.

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

3.

4.

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

Hebbiansynapse
Useitorloseit.

Myth:Youleanmoreifyou8me lessonswithperiodsof synaptogenesis.

This is a myth because

learning causes synaptogenesis (not the other way around).

(Neuro)plas8city
Theabilityofthebrain

torewireitselfusing nontraditional pathwaysifanormal routeisdamagedor blocked.

(Neuro)plas8city

Plas8city:Aparadigmshicinhowwe lookatthebrain
BEFOREwebelievedinlocalizationismwhichwe

nowknowisanoversimpliedvisionofthebrain.

Plas8city
Wenowknowthat. weseewithourbrains,notwithoureyes.* Example:Seeingwithtongue(BachyRita). Childrenarenotalwaysstuckwiththe mentalabilitiestheyarebornwith;thatthe damagedbraincanoftenreorganizeitselfso thatwhenonepartfails,anothercanoften substitute;thatisbraincellsdie,theycanat timesbereplaced;thatmanycircuitsand evenbasicreexesthatwethinkare hardwiredarenot.** MichelMerzenich;NormanDoidge;Paul BachyRita
*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?

Thebrain changesdaily withexperience.

Wellestablished:Thebrainchanges constantlywithexperience

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?

Pastinformation inEluenceshowwe learnsomethingnew.

Wellestablished: Inuenceofpastknowledge

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:Memoryislikeanobjec8ve recordingofasitua8on,andrealityexists inanabstractformforalltoperceive.

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:Thebrainremembers everythingithaseverexperienced;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
Therearevarioustypes

ofmemory:

Longterm

Declarative Procedural

Working Shortterm Emotional Episodic

Requirementsforlongtermmemory
Forinformationtogetinto

longtermmemoryithasto haveatleastoneofthree traits:

1. Survival 2. Association 3. Emotionalorpersonalvalue

Thinkabout
Three things that are easy to remember. Three things that are hard to remember.

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 ones 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 nights 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 dont 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
Recognizethatstudentshave

anaverage1020minute maximumattentionspan.

Inprac(ce:

Thismeansthatteachersneedtochangetheperson,

placeoractivityevery1020minutestomaintainahigh levelofattention.

PrimacyRecency
ThePrimacy RecenyEect
Peopleremember

bestwhathappens rst,secondbest whathappenslast, andleastwhat happensinthe middle.

Inprac(ce:
Thismeansthat

momentsinthe middleshouldbe dedicatedtostudent centeredpractice.

Inprac(ce:
Thelastpartoftheclass

shouldbededicatedto summarizingimportant conceptsandbridgingto nextclass.

Classroomimplica8ons:
Whateveryteacherneedstoknow

Thereten8onofnewinforma8on
Dependingonthechosenmethodology,studentshavevarying

attentionlevels.

Thebestwaytolearnanythingis.

Reten8onvarieswithmethod:

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

Reten8onvarieswithmethod:
REMEMBER:Justbecause

youtaughtsomethingdoes NOTmeantheylearnedit! newconceptsbetween1059 timestogetit!

Studentsneedexposureto

Inprac(ce:
TheLawof10:

1. Presentthenewconcept 2. Giveanexample 3. Askstudentstoexplaintheconcept 4. Clarifydoubts 5. Designanactivityinwhichtheconceptisusedbythe

student 6. Reviewresultsoftheactivityandclarifyconcept 7. Sendhomeworkthatappliestheconcept 8. Reviewhomeworkinclass 9. Clarifydoubtsabouttheconcept 10. Designanactivitythatappliestheconceptordirectuse oftheconceptbystudent.

Inprac(ce:
Ifyouuselecture,

useitwisely (claricationofcore concepts).

Inprac(ce:
Homeworkshouldbe

usedtoreinforcethe newideasand concepts.

Bestprac8ce
Bestpracticeactivitieshavecertaintraits:

Studentcentered Experiential Holistic Authentic Expressive Reexive Social

Collaborative Democratic Cognitive Developmental Constructivist Challenging (Fun)

Inprac(ce:
Activitiesthathaveoneormore

oftheaforementioned characteristicsaremorelikely tohaveanimpactandcreate signicantlearningexperiences.

Examplesofbestprac8ce ac8vi8es.?

10GuidesforBeTer Teaching

Guide1: Learningenvironments
Thebestlearningenvironments provide: Emotionalandphysical security Respect Intellectualliberty Selfdirectedexperiences Pacedchallenges Feedback Activelearning
(Billington, 1997)

Guide2: Sense,MeaningandTransfer
Studentstendtolearn betterwhen
coursecontentmakes

sense hasaclearlogic hassignicancein theirlives.

Guide3: Dierentmemorypathways
Longtermmemory

dependsonlinking informationto
survivalneeds pastknowledge

(association) values,emotionsor interests

Guide 4: Attention limits

Rememberthatstudents

attentionspansareonly 1020minuteslong. Remembertochangethe activity,place,ormain personoffocusfrequently.

Guide 5: Social learning

Thebrainisasocialorganandpeoplelearnbetter

whentheycanbounceideasoofoneanother.

Guide6: MindBodyConcepts
Studentslearnbetterwhen

theneedsofthebodyand mindarebothsatised.This includessleep,dietand physicalexerciseneeds.

Guide7: Teachermetaphor:Orquestradirector
Theteachercanbeseenasanorchestradirectorwho

knowshowtointegratethedierentvoices,sounds andtalentsofeachmember.

Guide8: Ac8veproceses

Studentslearnbestwhenthey

canparticipateactivelyintheir ownlearning.
Ihear,Iforget;Isee,I

understand;Ido,Iremember.

Guide9: Metacogni8ony Selfreec8on

Torememberbest,itisnecessarytoreectuponour

experiences.

Giventhevastamountofinformationthatstudentsare

bombardedwithdaily,itisimportanttogivethemdown timetoprocess.

Guide10: Learningacrossthelifespan
Thebrainhastheabilitytolearn

acrossthelifespan.

Forthisreason,whileitis

importanttotakeadvantageof sensitiveperiodsinchildhood, weshouldalsorecognizethatwe canlearnintooldage.

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