General, Learning

Whale Communication

Whale just having fun, or warning them to keep away? Whale meet again…’Help’ and ‘Thanks’ in Whale And talking of communication, our brains don’t have a ‘reading’ module. Instead they have to recruit certain parts to try and make sense of the squiggles and grunts we call language. No wonder [...]

Emotional intelligence, General, Learning

Study Skills And Motivation Count More Than IQ

It’s official! Study Skills And Motivation Matter More Than IQ to a person’s ability to learn. ‘Educational programs focusing on students’ motivation and study skills could be an important way to advance their competency in math as well as in other subjects.’ Says Dr Kou Murayama. “Hoorah” says I! Because [...]

General, Health, Learning

Lining up the ducks…

It’s all finally coming together, at last! This week has been somewhat eventful!! Channel 4 documentary I had a ‘phone call from a documentary producer, needing an expert on board a pilot (On board? Pilot? See what I did there!!) programme for Channel 4, to help explain and ultimately help [...]

General, Learning

Giving it the swerve!

Having to swerve and brake violently to avoid running over my second snake when cycling by the river, I was curious to know what make of snake was having such an impact on my journey. Well, not impact… but you know what I mean! Good old interweb! (Have you noticed how hand-held devices are [...]

Learning

Bloom’s Taxonomy and how it helps us learn

In 1956, a group of educational psychologists, headed by Benjamin Bloom, classified the various levels of intellectual behaviour observed when people learn. His work has been developed further, leading to very useful pointers for anyone attempting to study and remember information. It illustrates how our brains work and how we can [...]

Learning

How to make learning a healthy obsession

In one ear and out the other! Ever noticed you have selective hearing for the stuff you’re interested in while being completely oblivious to the unimportant stuff? Unimportant to you, that is! Well, it makes perfect evolutionary sense, doesn’t it? You can’t possibly pay attention to everything you ever come [...]

Health, Learning

Sleep learning

The idea of sleep learning probably began in 1951 when a couple of researchers at the University of Washington DC attempted to teach Chinese words and their English translations to volunteers as they slept. They concluded that, “Learning can occur during sleep.” The problem is though, while several other people [...]

Emotional intelligence, Learning

Narcissism or high self-esteem

Narcissism or high self-esteem? You’re so vain, You probably think this song is about you. Don’t you? Don’t you? Oh you know the ones, who seem to be so ‘up themselves’ they’re barely aware of the effect that they’re having on other people around them? Ever wondered how they could [...]

Learning

Doodling makes learning a doddle!

Which are you – a doodle or a doodler? One description isn’t flattering: A ‘doodle’, as in Yankee doodle, is a simpleton, a swindler or corrupt politician. (Is that a tautology? Discuss.) And the other: Someone who knows how to maximise their mental resources to absorb and retain information. Many [...]

Emotional intelligence, Learning

Decisions

Choose… And kill off all other options As with all the other ‘cide’s’, it’s from the Latin root, caedere “to cut, to kill”, Suicide… Fratricide… Fungicide….! Ever felt stuck? Overwhelmed with decisions, and feel like your brain’s ‘full’? Well – two great articles for you this week… Firstly, the second(!) article, by Paul Matthews [...]