Science Daily Ed. Psychology
Frequency and cost of copying college homework revealed
The history of students who copy homework from classmates may be as old as school itself. But in today's age of lecture-hall laptops and online coursework, how prevalent and damaging to the education of students has such academic dishonesty become? According to new research, it turns out that unnoticed student cheating is a significant cause of course failure nationally.
Could a pill increase learning ability post-puberty?
New research shows that a novel brain receptor, alpha4-beta-delta, emerges at puberty in the hippocampus, part of the brain that controls learning and memory.
Behind a child with aggressive behavior there is a negative family environment
Children who use violence usually come from conflict-ridden families; as has been shown by a number of research studies.
Simple, low-cost steps enhance adolescents' health
Simple, low-cost measures such as wearing a pedometer to inspire walking and spending a few minutes a day meditating can put adolescents on the track toward better health, researchers report.
New teaching tools aid visually impaired students in learning math
Mastering mathematics can be daunting for many children, but researchers have found that children with visual impairments face disproportionate challenges learning math, and by the time they reach the college level, they are significantly under-represented in science, technology, mathematics and engineering disciplines.
New insight into brain's decision-making process
The hippocampus, a part of the brain essential for memory, has long been known to "replay" recently experienced events. Previously, replay was believed to be a simple process of reviewing recent experiences in order to help consolidate them into long-term memory. However, new research shows the phenomenon of memory replay is much more complex, cognitive process that may help an animal maintain its internal representation of the world, or its cognitive map.
Students' perceptions of Earth's age influence acceptance of human evolution
High school and college students who understand the geological age of the Earth (4.5 billion years) are much more likely to understand and accept human evolution, according to a new study. A 2009 Gallup poll reported that 16 percent of biology teachers believe God created humans in their present form at some time during the last 10,000 years.
Game on? Video-game ownership may interfere with young boys' academic functioning
According to new findings, owning a video-game system may hamper academic development in some children. Boys who received a video-game system immediately had significantly lower reading and writing scores after four months than boys receiving a video-game system at the end of the experiment. Further analysis revealed that the time spent playing video games may link the relationship between owning a video-game system and reading and writing scores.
Exposure to letters A or F can affect test performance
Seeing the letter A before an exam can improve a student's exam result while exposure to the letter F may make a student more likely to fail, according to a new study.
Possible early glimpse of autism's impact on older siblings
A new study suggests a trend toward developing hyperactivity among typically developing elementary-school-aged siblings of autistic preschoolers and supports the notion that mothers of young, autistic children experience more depression and stress than mothers with typically developing children.
Ritalin boosts learning by increasing brain plasticity
Doctors treat millions of children with Ritalin every year to improve their ability to focus on tasks, but scientists now report that Ritalin also directly enhances the speed of learning.
To remember the good times, reach for the sky
Simple motor actions, like moving marbles upward or downward between two cardboard boxes, may not seem meaningful. But a new study shows that motor actions can partly determine people's emotional memories. Moving marbles upward caused participants to remember more positive life experiences, and moving them downward to remember more negative experiences. ‘Meaningless’ motor actions can make people remember the good times or the bad.
Teaching self-control skills to children reduces classroom problems
Children taught skills to monitor and control their anger and other emotions improved their classroom behavior and had significantly fewer school disciplinary referrals and suspensions, according to a new study.
Infants do not appear to learn words from educational DVDs
Among 12- to 24-month old children who view educational baby videos, there does not appear to be evidence that overall general language learning improves or that words featured in the programming are learned, according to a new study.
Recent research on memory, learning
Are we over estimating remembering and underestimating learning? In a recent study, people failed to predict that they would be able to remember more words after studying more.
Students' physical fitness associated with academic achievement; organized physical activity
Physical fitness is associated with academic performance in young people, according to a new study.
Learning keeps brain healthy: Mental activity could stave off age-related cognitive and memory decline
Neurobiologists are providing the first visual evidence that learning promotes brain health -- and, therefore, that mental stimulation could limit the debilitating effects of aging on memory and the mind.
Computer games can teach schools some lessons
If schools adopted some of the strategies that video games use, they could educate children more effectively, according to experts.
Word learning better in deaf children who receive cochlear implants by age 13 months
Researcher report that deaf children's word-learning skill is strongly affected by early auditory experience, whether that experience was through normal means or with a cochlear implant. Children who received an implant by age 13 months performed similarly to normal-hearing counterparts while children who received a cochlear implant later performed, on average, more poorly than their normal-hearing peers.
Lack of morning light keeping teenagers up at night
The first field study on the impact of light on teenagers' sleeping habits finds that insufficient daily morning light exposure contributes to teenagers not getting enough sleep.
Nouns and verbs are learned in different parts of the brain
Two Spanish psychologists and a German neurologist have recently shown that the brain that activates when a person learns a new noun is different from the part used when a verb is learnt. The scientists observed this using brain images taken using functional magnetic resonance.
Gene mutation is linked to autism-like symptoms in mice, researchers find
When a gene implicated in human autism is disabled in mice, the rodents show learning problems and obsessive, repetitive behaviors, researchers have found.
Children don't trust each other when learning the rules
Children don't trust other children when it comes to learning a new game and will turn to adults for to learn the rules instead, according to a new psychology study.
Reading to kids a crucial tool in English language development
Poring over the works of Dr. Seuss, the adventures of the Bernstain Bears or exploring the worlds of Hans Christian Andersen with a child has always been a great parent-child bonding exercise. But, according to new research it is instrumental for English-speaking children if they are to acquire the language skills, particularly comprehension, essential to their future reading ability.
Naps help babies learn and retain new information
Psychologists have found that infants need adequate sleep, including regular naps, in order to effectively learn about the new world they live in.
Midday nap markedly boosts the brain's learning capacity
If you see a student dozing in the library or a co-worker catching 40 winks in her cubicle, don't roll your eyes. New research shows that an hour's nap can dramatically boost and restore your brain power. Indeed, the findings suggest that a biphasic sleep schedule not only refreshes the mind, but can make you smarter.
Music training enhances brainstem sensitivity to speech sounds, neuroscientist says
What is the relationship between music and speech processing? Playing an instrument may help children better process speech in noisy classrooms and more accurately interpret language nuances conveyed by subtle changes in the human voice, says one expert who has studied the links between neural encoding of speech and music in the auditory nervous system for three decades.
Parents still major influence on child’s decision to pursue science careers
Parental influence and access to mathematics courses are likely to guide students to careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics or medicine, according to new research.
Learning from the brain: Computer scientists develop new generation of neuro-computer
Intelligent machines that not only think for themselves but also actively learn are the vision of researchers who have been co-ordinating the European Union research project "Brain-i-Nets" (Novel Brain Inspired Learning Paradigms for Large-Scale Neuronal Networks). The scientists want to design a new generation of neuro-computers based on the principles of calculation and learning mechanisms found in the brain, and at the same time gain new knowledge about the brain's learning mechanisms.
Teaching a foreign language? Best teach in the accent of the listener
Perception of second language speech is easier when it is spoken in the accent of the listener and not in the "original" accent of that language, shows a new study.
Declining school performance explained
Housing segregation, making schooling a community matter, special teaching groups, individualization and the right to freely choose which school to attend are factors explaining why Swedish school children perform worse than 20 years ago according to new research.
Computer simulations can be as effective as direct observation at teaching students
Students can learn some science concepts just as well from computers simulations as they do from direct observation, new research suggests. A study found that people who used computer simulations to learn about moon phases understood the concepts just as well -- and in some cases better -- than did those who learned from collecting data from viewing the moon.
Male college students also victims of violence at girlfriends' hands
Researchers are looking at the impact that being a victim of violence has on male versus female college students in heterosexual relationships. They that found the biggest predictor of whether male and female college students would use violence against a partner was whether the partner was violent toward them.
If children won't go to school doctor's notes are not the answer, experts say
Children and adolescents who refuse to attend school should not be given doctors' sick notes. A child and adolescent psychiatrist explains the causes of school avoidance and describe measures to tackle the problem.
Length of time in institutional care may influence children's learning
A new study shows that children adopted early from foster care didn't differ from children who were raised in their birth families but that children adopted from institutional care performed worse than those raised in families on tests measuring visual memory and attention, learning visual information, and impulse control. Findings suggest that children make tremendous advances in cognitive functioning once they reach their adoptive families but the impact of early deprivation is difficult to reverse completely.
Immigration doesn't threaten US-born students' chances at college, economist's study finds
Evaluating students' Scholastic Aptitude Test scores over seven years, a K-State economist concluded that US-born students' scores weren't negatively affected by immigration and their chances of applying to a top college weren't diminished.
Antidepressant may result in improved cognitive function after stroke
Patients who received the antidepressant escitalopram following a stroke appeared to recover more of their thinking, learning and memory skills than those taking placebo or participating in problem-solving therapy, according to a report.
Magnesium supplement helps boost brainpower
New research finds that an increase in brain magnesium improves learning and memory in young and old rats. The study suggests that increasing magnesium intake may be a valid strategy to enhance cognitive abilities and supports speculation that inadequate levels of magnesium impair cognitive function, leading to faster deterioration of memory in aging humans.
Student video diaries reveal true depths of the post-Christmas blues
The return to university after Christmas is a low point for many students as they come back to face exams following a festive break that is often less restful than expected, a unique study has found. Researchers in the UK who asked students to keep a regular video diary have discovered that post-Christmas blues are very real for many who find the need to earn and revise during the holiday season leaves them drained at the start of the New Year.
Sexual minority youth bullied more than heterosexual youth
The act and victimization of bullying continues to be a problem among today's youth. While many children are experiencing this form of violence, it is more prevalent in children that are different from the social norm. As medical professionals continue to further their understanding of bullying, research shows a high rate of sexual minority youth who experience this harmful activity.
New studies highlight needs of boys in K-12, higher education
Boys face high rates of a variety of mental health issues, in addition to lagging behind girls in academic performance and college attendance, according to two new studies. The studies note that boys have higher rates of suicide, conduct disorders, emotional disturbance, premature death and juvenile delinquency than their female peers, as well as lower grades, test scores and college attendance rates.
How categories and environment create satisfied and well-informed consumers
Expert consumers like to be surprised by unusual product presentation, while novices crave familiarity, so claims a new study.
Combined approach may be better way to treat autism
Children with autism would likely receive better treatment if supporters of the two major teaching methods stopped bickering over theory and focused on a combined approach, a psychologist argues in a new article.
Brain scientists extend map of fear memory formation
Draw a map of the brain when fear and anxiety are involved, and the amygdala looms large. But scientists have now extended the brain's fear map to include the prelimbic cortex. Researchers found that mice lacking a critical growth factor in the prelimbic cortex have trouble remembering to fear electric shocks. The discovery could help improve diagnosis and treatment for anxiety disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and phobias.
Design vs. Dyslexia: Innovation promises new hope for children with dyslexia
Researchers are designing a 21st century electronic toolkit to speed learning for children with dyslexia.
Mixed-handed children more likely to have mental health, language and scholastic problems, study finds
Children who are mixed-handed, or ambidextrous, are more likely to have mental health, language and scholastic problems in childhood than right- or left-handed children, according to a new study. The researchers behind the study suggest that their findings may help teachers and health professionals to identify children who are particularly at risk of developing certain problems.
Believing stereotype undermines girls' math performance: Elementary school women teachers transfer their fear of doing math to girls, study finds
Female elementary school teachers who are anxious about math pass on to female students the stereotype that boys, not girls, are good at math. Girls who endorse this belief then do worse at math, research shows. The research found that boys' math performance was not related to their teacher's math anxiety while girls' math achievement was affected.
Novel computational model: How Parkinson's medications affect learning and attention
A new brain-based computational model is helping to understand how Parkinson's disease and dopamine medications -- used to treat motor symptoms caused by the disease -- can affect learning and attention.
