Educating the Human Brain

by Michael I. Posner, Mary Klevjord Rothbart

Educating the Human Brain is the product of a quarter century of research. This book provides an empirical account of the early development of attention and self regulation in infants and young children. It examines the brain areas involved in regulatory networks, their connectivity, and how their development is influenced by genes and experience. Relying on the latest techniques in cognitive and temperament measurement, neuroimaging, and molecular genetics, the book integrates research on neural networks common to all of us with studies of individual differences.
 
In this book, the authors explain where, when, and how the brain performs functions that are necessary for learning. Such functions include attending to information; controlling attention through effort; regulating the interplay of emotion with cognition; and coding, organizing, and retrieving information. The authors suggest how these aspects of brain development can support school readiness, literacy, numeracy, and expertise. The audience for this book includes neuroscientists as well as developmental and educational psychologists who have interest in the latest brain research. The many helpful visuals — including brain diagrams, pictures and photographs of experimental set-ups, and graphs and tables displaying key data — also give this book appeal for graduate students.
 

Genres: Psychology

263 pages, Hardcover

First published August 15, 2006

Reviews

[May Ling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not an area for which I have expertise. This particular book really only addresses childhood learning. There is good information on research as it currently sits. To me, it seems a landscape summary of a host of topics in educating the human brain.

I found the chapter n temperament and neural processing helpful. I think it was interesting that it mentioned that not all negative emotions are bad for learning. Fear can be both good and bad.

The real challenge I have with this book is that some might go to far with each and every theory. I think the book does a great job of presenting a balanced view of what findings are. But I would almost have them break from science and interpret the information a bit more.

For example, many schools do away with all tests. Given the work on negative and positive incentive is that good or bad? How does that feed into moral incentive and some of the other items in the precise, not in the precise way it was studied? I'm confused after I read the chapter.

I like that they talked about fear of failure being an issue. But I think the way it's interpreted in schools is utter folly. Their point is that failure feelings can create inferiority that makes people risk averse in a way that is negative. How we see this work interpreted in the school systems is a ribbon for every kid. But that doesn't teach the opposite of failure. If anything that reinforces fear of failure by lack of exposure. Why can't the book make stronger stands and really argue it out?

Then there is the chapter on reading and how whole word when coupled with phonetics can be of great benefit. I absolutely hate the way this chapter has been interpreted, which is to stress whole word learning. It misses the point. The author is saying it should be a supplement, meaning that after you teach phonetics, you need kids to read enough to where they also learn whole word. Some schools have replaced huge swaths of phonetics learning with whole word. Supplement people! Not replace. Again, the book has no comments and the reader must draw their own conclusions. If anything, one could read the chapter and think the authors are for whole word learning at the expense of parts of phonetic learning.

It's this lack of stronger conclusion that lost this book a star for me.

[Jeff La Marca]

brain,eeg,education,learning