RESEARCH ON THE ADOLESCENT BRAIN

This is Your Brain on Music pages 221-228

the sounds you hear in the womb and as an infant (before the age of 2) influence
your preference in music
the teen years are a turning point for musical preference
14 = year of self-discovery > emotionally charged > we tend to
remember things that have an emotional component
!! best books must relate to the reader/have an emotional impact !!
w/ Alzheimers, although you lose memories, you often can still
sing songs from your adolescence
our amygdala and neurotransmitters tag emotional
memories as something important
songs from the teen years are often our songs
around 14, our brains have adult-like levels of completion
People tend to become less open with age
possible answer as to why: "our brains are forming new connection at an
explosive rate throughout our adolescence, but this slows down substantially after
our teenage years
"during teenage years, the neural circuits become structure out of our
experiences
there are critical periods of learning and acquiring new skills
i.e. speaking fluently by the age of 6, or learning math by the age of 20
?? Is there a certain period of acquiring a best book ??
why: the biological clock of synaptic growth"
the brains synapses are only programmed to grow for a certain
number of years, after that, they are programmed to prune to get
rid of unnecessary connections
Myelination starts to ramp up during adolescence
myelin = "a fatty substance that coats the axons, speeding up synaptic
transmission
RF: why as children get older, they can solve problems faster
myelination is usually completed by age 20
balance b/t simplicity and complexity also informs preferences
it all relates to familiarity
too simple = too predictable
too complex = too unpredictable
just right moments of predictability where we feel a sense of order and a
sense of place
ME: does moving to a different location make a reading experience
more complex b/c it takes away your sense of place?
Graphical representation of complexity and liking is an inverted U shape

Why Teens are Impulsive, Addiction-Prone and should Protect their Brains. NPR,
Philadelphia, 2016, ProQuest Central K-12; ProQuest Newsstand,
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1781223904?accountid=4879.
it takes into the early to late 20s for the brain to fully develop
 b/c the way our brain connects regions to each other inside the brain
the connection tracts (made up of axons) are insulated, similar to electrical
wire, by myelin (a fat)
helps connect regions of the brain and makes messages travel
faster
myelination occurs from the back of the brain to the front > the last place to be
connected is the front
the prefrontal cortex and the frontal cortex => which are areas where we
have insight, impulse control, risk-taking behavior decisions are made
WHY MEMORIES ARE MORE DEEPLY INGRAINED
synapses get stronger the more you use them, especially if you use them in
a patterned way (i.e. with practice)
we are programmed to have more excitation, more molecules that promote
excitation during our childhood and teen years than during the adult years
b/c those are the years in which our synapses are getting the
strongest and the largest, were able to remember events better
from our teen years
memory occurs when after such long practice doing something and
firing that synapse, less effort is needed to perform the task (aka
remember)
we need excitation to learn and remember
STRESS
teenagers are more prone to stress because they have more plasticity (=
quality of being easily shaped or molded) in their brains
their synapses are being conditions by the environment
if stress is in the environment > synapses are built a different
way than without stress
stress during teenage years increases risk of depression b/c youre
altering areas of your brain

This is Your Brain on Music pages 221-228

the sounds you hear in the womb and as an infant (before the age of 2) influence
your preference in music
the teen years are a turning point for musical preference
14 = year of self-discovery > emotionally charged > we tend to
remember things that have an emotional component
!! best books must relate to the reader/have an emotional impact !!
w/ Alzheimers, although you lose memories, you often can still
sing songs from your adolescence
1 our amygdala and neurotransmitters tag emotional memories as
something important
songs from the teen years are often our songs
around 14, our brains have adult-like levels of completion
People tend to become less open with age
 possible answer as to why: "our brains are forming new connection at an
explosive rate throughout our adolescence, but this slows down substantially after
our teenage years
"during teenage years, the neural circuits become structured out of our
experiences
there are critical periods of learning and acquiring new skills
i.e. speaking fluently by the age of 6, or learning math by the age of 20
?? Is there a certain period of acquiring a best book ??
why: the biological clock of synaptic growth"
the brains synapses are only programmed to grow for a certain
number of years, after that, they are programmed to prune to get
rid of unnecessary connections
Myelination starts to ramp up during adolescence
myelin = "a fatty substance that coats the axons, speeding up synaptic
transmission
RF: why as children get older, they can solve problems faster
myelination is usually completed by age 20
balance b/t simplicity and complexity also informs preferences
it all relates to familiarity
too simple = too predictable
too complex = too unpredictable
just right moments of predictability where we feel a sense of order and a
sense of place
ME: does moving to a different location make a reading experience
more complex b/c it takes away your sense of place?
Graphical representation of complexity and liking is an inverted U shape

RESEARCH ON LOCATION
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19096200
Goal: To what extent vacation has positive effects on health and well-being, how
long such effects endure after work resumption, and how specific vacation
activities and experiences affect these relationships.
https://www.meta-analysis.com/pages/why_do.php
Method: a meta-analytic procedure = combining data from multiple
studies
when the treatment effect (or affect size) is consistent from one
study to the next, meta-analysis can be used to identify this
common effect
this is used because a single study often is not representative of the
entire population (studies vary from one to the next)
Results: Vacation has positive effects on health and well-being, albeit a small
effect.
the effects soon fade out after resumption of work
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/00346543066003227
Goal: The Effects of Summer Vacation on Achievement Test Scores: A Narrative
and Meta-Analytic Review
results: math suffered more than reading comprehension
middle-class students appeared to gain on grade-level equivalent reading
recognition tests over the summer, while lower-class students did not
possibly b/c of learning opportunities available to middle-class
students

http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1761&context=ehd_theses
Goal: The Effects of Summer Vacation on Learning: A Look at Interrupted
Instruction
Method: loss or gain of achievement is determined using Running Reading
Records from the end of 1st grade moving the the beginning of 2nd grade
Results:
interrupted instruction did not necessarily impeded student performance in
reading.
If there is any loss or gain in ability over time due to summer vacation, it
is very small

Fritz, Charlotte, and Sabine Sonnentag. "Recovery, Well-being, and Performance-Related

Outcomes: The Role of Workload and Vacation Experiences." Journal of Applied
Psychology, vol. 91, no. 4, 2006, pp. 936, ProQuest Central K-12,
https://search.proquest.com/docview/213940325?accountid=4879.
Results: Vacation gives benefits, but they have partial fade-out after returning to
work

Khnel, Jana, and Sabine Sonnentag. "How Long do You Benefit from Vacation? A
Closer Look at the Fade-Out of Vacation Effects." Journal of Organizational Behavior,
vol. 32, no. 1, 2011, pp. 125, ProQuest Central K-12,
https://search.proquest.com/docview/839723539?accountid=4879.
Title: How long do you benefit from vacation? A closer look at the fade-out of
vacation effects
Results:
teachers work engagement significantly increased and burnout
significantly decreased after vacation
beneficial effects fade out within a month, but leisure time and relaxation
experiences after vacation can delay the fade-out of beneficial effects

RESEARCH ON THE LITERATURE AND THE MIND

Miller, Carol A. "Developmental Relationships between Language and Theory of Mind."
American Journal of Speech - Language Pathology, vol. 15, no. 2, 2006, pp. 142-54,
ProQuest Central K-12, https://search.proquest.com/docview/204265319?
accountid=4879.
 the understanding of mental states (theory of mind) is important to take into
account because and enhances childrens communication and language
development

Takeuchi, Hikaru, et al. "Impact of Reading Habit on White Matter Structure: Cross-
Sectional and Longitudinal Analyses." NeuroImage, vol. 133, 2016, pp. 378-389,
ProQuest Central K-12, https://search.proquest.com/docview/1794777818?
accountid=4879, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.037.
the quantity of reading habit affects the development of reading skills, language
skills, and knowledge
a healthy reading habit may be directly or indirectly associated with the advanced
development of white matter, which is critical to reading and language processes
white matter = a kind of tissue in the brain
(http://www.indiana.edu/~p1013447/dictionary/greywhit.htm)

RESEARCH ON ASSIGNED VS. PLEASURE READING

Ogbonna, Justina, PhD., and Jacintha U. Eze PhD. "Reviving the Reading Culture:
School Library Programmes in Promoting Voluntary Reading Amongst Students: The
Case of Imo State, Nigeria." Library Philosophy and Practice, 2015, pp. 0_1,1-27,
ProQuest Central K-12, https://search.proquest.com/docview/1739062966?
accountid=4879.
reading helps develop the mind and personality of human beings and enriches
intellectual lives
reading for pleasure > learning becomes relevant in a way that improves
reading ability and self-concept
reading for pleasure helps readers have mastery of their lives and situations in
life
how people manage situations in books can give readers knowledge of
how to cope with similar situations
young people can only achieve potential in life if they have developed an interest
in reading
access to books, debate, lending of books for personal reading, and assistance in
selection of books were the major methods in which people accessed books in the
study
encouraging free voluntary reading has a positive influence on students

Klauda, Susan L. L. The Relations of Children's Perceived Support for Recreational

Reading from Parents and Friends to their Motivation for Reading, University of
Maryland, College Park, Ann Arbor, 2008, ProQuest Central K-12,
https://search.proquest.com/docview/250796955?accountid=4879.
parent and friend support of recreational reading contributes uniquely to the
prediction of reading motivation and frequency
girls receive more support from friends than boys (in the 4th and 5th grade)
mothers gave more support than fathers
4th graders receive more support than 5th graders and also received more books
as gifts then the 5th grades
http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/2015/02/the-impact-of-assigned-reading-on-reading-
pleasure-in-young-adults/
self-selection had a statistical impact on students self-perceived pleasure
student self selection leads to greater pleasure and interest in reading
study done in adolescents 12-18 years old
selecting material for themselves is an essential act of independence for
adolescents
self-selected books often have more teen characters > reliability and link to
things that we care about now
Students are expected to become independent readers, yet they get limited
opportunities to explore their own interests in reading, to read at their own pace,
or to make their own decisions about whether or not to read a book.
teachers can still meet curriculum requirements using student self selection
when students were provided time to chose, read, and reflect on a book,
they became more interested in reading and connected characters and
themes to their own lives in meaningful ways

RESEARCH ON THE POWER OF FICTION

Ooi, Kamy, and Chern L. Liew. "Selecting Fiction as Part of Everyday Life Information
Seeking." Journal of Documentation, vol. 67, no. 5, 2011, pp. 748-772, ProQuest Central
K-12, https://search.proquest.com/docview/893760054?accountid=4879,
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00220411111164655.
HOW PEOPLE CHOSE FICTION
fiction books were selected as part of everyday life information seeking
influenced by personal characteristics and circumstances as well as
circumstances from their everyday lives
friends, family, other books, mass media
everyday life influences readers choice in book
trust is a determining factor in book selection
ME: does this say something about students trust in teachers when
teaches assign a book and students dont want to read it?

Hendersen, Deborah J. O. Understanding Narratives as Fiction Or Nonfiction, Stanford

University, Ann Arbor, 2008, ProQuest Central K-12,
https://search.proquest.com/docview/304470731?accountid=4879.
participants read and then retold narratives that were labeled either fiction or
nonfiction
results indicated a robust fiction superiority effect where participants recalled
20-50% more words and detailed in narratives labeled fiction than those labeled
nonfiction
conclusion: participants will mentally represent the same narrative differently if
they believe it to be fiction as opposed to nonfiction
why:
 people tactically recognize that the world of fiction was created by the
author for particular purposes, while nonfiction must conform to the actual
world > a host of different inferences
purpose of nonfiction = mapping out the real world
purpose of fiction = to entertain (firstly) and inform; more like a
blueprint;
giving the reader the tools to imagine the fictional world
1 ME: wiggle room for independence? which is what adolescents like
2 perceived increase in freedom
much less emphasis on the need to be informative, rather more
value on the imaginative powers
the author chooses parts the real world then distills the information
and passes it on to the reader in an enjoyable and informative way
b/c events in fiction are not as predictable as nonfiction, small details of
the story may call for extra attention needed to increase the memory in a
piece of fiction (b/c those small event are predictors of what will happen
next (i.e. Carry On).
b/c the purpose is to entertain, retelling the details becomes more
important
whereas in nonfiction, the information is more important and thus
a summary is less detailed (only preserving content)