April 19 – 29, 2014
News Clips:
Teachers' scare
tactics may lead to lower exam scores
Summary: Recent study
found that based on student responses, teacher messages that focus heavily on
the consequences associated with failure on exams felt more threatened. These
students also felt less motivated and scored lower than students of teachers
who used fewer scare tactics.
Criminal behavior:
Older siblings strongly sway younger siblings close in age
Summary: Recent study
suggests “social transmission” of violent behavior from older siblings to
younger siblings that are close in age.
Simply being called
'fat' makes young girls more likely to become obese: Trying to be thin is like
trying to be tall
Summary: New study
finds that girls who were told they were fat at age 10 by a parent, sibling,
classmate, friend, or teacher were 10 times more likely to be obese at age 19.
E-games for kids: How
to avoid the dangers
Summary: Researchers
discuss the health and wellness risks associated with kids’ high usage of
e-games through a variety of platforms that include tablets, handheld game
consoles, and smartphones. In developed countries, kids spend between 4 and 8
hours per day using screen based electronic media.
Overlap in genes
altered in schizophrenia, autism, intellectual disability
Summary: Recent study
explores the theory that the pathology of schizophrenia, autism, and
intellectual disability is linked to malfunction of the same 5 genes. The focus
of the study was de novo mutations, which are gene defects that occur in
offspring that neither parent possesses.
Girls make higher
grades than boys in all school subjects, analysis finds
Summary: Researchers
examined studies of school performance from 1914 through 2011 in 30 countries.
Study samples included 538,710 boys and 595,332 girls. Findings suggest that
grades have been consistently higher for females over the span of decades
without significant change.
Music Lessons Combat
Poverty's Effect on the Brain
Summary: Recent study measures
auditory abilities in 14 and 15 year olds grouped by socioeconomic status. Low
SES was associated with weaker and more variable neural activity as well as
lower scores on tests of reading and working memory. Based on results from
another study examining neural responses in mature adults with musical
training, the researchers propose that music training should be considered as a
potential intervention to improve auditory deficits for children from low SES
backgrounds.
Is misused
neuroscience defining early years and child protection policy?
Summary: Author
discusses neuroscience as it relates to early child development and the
implications for policy impacting child protection services for abused and
neglected children.
Tablets and the
future of education
Summary: Article highlights
the utilization of tablets in the classroom to enhance and compliment learning.
Learning With
Disabilities: One Effort To Shake Up The Classroom
Summary: Story
discusses the efforts of a San Francisco middle school to shift instruction for
students with disabilities to be more consistent with the inclusion model.
Disaster Survivors:
How Stress Changes the Brain
Summary: Recent study
finds structural changes in the brain following the Great East Japan Earthquake
of 2011. The structural changes were found to be dynamic and changing.
Self-esteem was linked to reversed structural changes. Researchers propose the likely importance of self-esteem in resiliency following stressful and
traumatic events.
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