Posted on 05/05/2013 6:30:36 AM PDT by equalator
Certain measures of brain anatomy were even better at judging learning potential than traditional measures of ability such as IQ and standardized test results, says study author Kaustubh Supekar of Stanford University. These signatures include the size of the hippocampus — a string bean–shaped structure involved in making memories — and how connected the area was with other parts of the brain.
The findings suggest that kids struggling with their math homework aren’t necessarily slacking off, says cognitive scientist David Geary of the University of Missouri in Columbia. “They just may not have as much brain region devoted to memory formation as other kids.”
The study could give scientists clues about where to look for sources of learning disabilities, he says.
Scientists have spent years studying brain regions related to math performance in adults, but how kids learn is still “a huge question,” says Supekar. He and colleagues tested IQ and math and reading performance in 24 8- and 9-year-olds, then scanned
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...
That will end well... \s
I’m pretty sure if they scanned my brain they’d exclaim, “That’s amazing! Her math portion is almost non-existent! And one drink neutralizes even that tiny sliver!”
I can believe this. People’s brains are wired up differently and we learn best in different ways.
I CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT learn by being told things—just can’t take in and retain information received through my ears. I learn by reading, or (preferably) by reading and then doing the thing with my hands. If my life or the lives of my children were on the line I still could not remember what I hear. Something isn’t hooked up for aural processing.
It’s genetic. My father was this way, and so are my children. But we are intelligent and talented, and we do well in college and grad school—with the stipulation that we learn in our own way.
A quick PET scan to elucidate our learning issues could have saved us a lot of time, grief, self-chastisement, and loss of motivation and self-esteem.
Don't hate me because I'm smart.
Size matters? The Neanderthals were more intelligent than we are?/S.
There would be so much variability in the PET results that it would be essentially useless as a predictive tool in this manner. Maybe we need educators who are trained to recognize different learning styles, and an educational system that allows variable approaches (e.g. provide all material that is taught orally in class in written form as well (word for word - not just ‘read the text’).
I don't think they ever voted for a democrat.
I don’t think they ever voted for a democrat.
There are dead people and illegal aliens and pets voting for democrats so why would they discriminate against neanderthals?
Interesting. I’m just the opposite in that I learn best if I have a lecture coupled with intensive reading followed by lots of problems. Perhaps that is due to college?
PING
PING!
It sounds like you both ideally have what works best for most people: repetition and the actual application of the concepts through the completion of problems.
Working problems really help. I guess one by working problems reaches principles through induction. Then, of course, the textbook and lectures make explicit the basic axioms and theorems.
Something about this doesn’t add up.
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