window.__IS_SSR__=true
window.__INITIAL_STATE__={
"attachmentsReducer": {
"audio_0": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_0",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background0.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_1": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_1",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background1.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_2": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_2",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background2.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_3": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_3",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background3.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_4": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_4",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background4.jpg"
}
}
},
"placeholder": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "placeholder",
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-768x512.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 512,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"small": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1280,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 32,
"height": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 50,
"height": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 64,
"height": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 96,
"height": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 128,
"height": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
}
},
"mindshift_49249": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "mindshift_49249",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "49249",
"found": true
},
"parent": 0,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-520x346.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 346
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-960x640.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 640
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-375x250.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 250
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324.jpg",
"width": 1933,
"height": 1288
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-1180x786.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 786
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-1920x1279.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1279
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-1180x786.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 786
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-1920x1279.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1279
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-768x512.jpg",
"width": 768,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 512
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/iStock-510159416-e1518544863324-240x160.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 160
}
},
"publishDate": 1505795123,
"modified": 1505795193,
"caption": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Circle of teenage girls",
"credit": "iStock/mikanaka",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"mindshift_49103": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "mindshift_49103",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "49103",
"found": true
},
"parent": 49102,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-520x408.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 408
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-160x125.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 125
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-960x753.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 753
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-375x294.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 294
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-e1503660047330.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1505
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-1020x800.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 800
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-1180x925.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 925
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-800x627.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 627
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-1920x1505.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1505
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-1180x925.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 925
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-1920x1505.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1505
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-768x602.jpg",
"width": 768,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 602
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2017/08/neurons_custom-efd14ddc416c4e60f8dc7409ce7b195c63e61b75-240x188.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 188
}
},
"publishDate": 1503660018,
"modified": 1503660074,
"caption": "Simply going up in pitch at the end of a sentence can transform a statement into a question.",
"description": "Simply going up in pitch at the end of a sentence can transform a statement into a question.",
"title": "Simply going up in pitch at the end of a sentence can transform a statement into a question.",
"credit": "Lizzie Roberts/Ikon Images/Getty Images",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"mindshift_47134": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "mindshift_47134",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "47134",
"found": true
},
"parent": 46956,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-520x286.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 286
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-160x88.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 88
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-960x528.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 528
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-375x206.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 206
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-e1481700413761.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1057
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-1020x561.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 561
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-1180x649.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 649
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-800x440.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 440
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-1920x1057.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1057
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-1180x649.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 649
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-1920x1057.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1057
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-768x423.jpg",
"width": 768,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 423
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/12/Brain-240x132.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 132
}
},
"publishDate": 1481700388,
"modified": 1481700408,
"caption": null,
"description": null,
"title": "brain",
"credit": "iStock/manopjk",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"mindshift_47021": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "mindshift_47021",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "47021",
"found": true
},
"parent": 46865,
"imgSizes": {
"small": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-520x322.jpg",
"width": 520,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 322
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-160x99.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 99
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-960x595.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 595
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-375x232.jpg",
"width": 375,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 232
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-e1479734533920.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1189
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-1020x632.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 632
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-1180x731.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 731
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-800x496.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 496
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-1920x1189.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1189
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-1180x731.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 731
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-1920x1189.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1189
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-768x476.jpg",
"width": 768,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 476
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/Fractions-240x149.jpg",
"width": 240,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 149
}
},
"publishDate": 1479734508,
"modified": 1479734642,
"caption": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Fractions -- Image cropped",
"credit": " \u003ca href=\"https://www.flickr.com/photos/postsumptio/4973762580/in/photolist-8zvQkf-cWezDN-99xAZt-bvBxz-oaJzSr-6nnzrS-omurUD-6aeQLX-nYgq8c-7FPQcJ-oCMzHR-7JBZeU-obkKET-9chxzP-5HVL95-nYXVwv-9ckBDy-o5B6JQ-9chvQz-aAP4bL-7FPQjN-8c4TWh-oxh8BR-9qw4Q9-o7Ku43-7FPUVW-o46Ljx-cRPDXN-6cL1BZ-nLPZYj-o8ymbm-2FF2LQ-9jb7fi-997eUG-9chw8t-7FPRdN-8GWvnk-9chwgt-7FKSPg-ogvg5v-o7rrz1-9chvU4-fo2qnc-aGTiz-7FKW4X-aNi8z-cRPDVL-aAiXfZ-7FL28x-fogFW9\">Flickr/Kai C. Schwarzer/cropped\u003c/a>",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"mindshift_46641": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "mindshift_46641",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "46641",
"found": true
},
"parent": 46640,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-400x300.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 300
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-960x720.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 720
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-e1475844095531.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1440
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-1440x1080.jpg",
"width": 1440,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1080
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-800x600.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 600
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"cat_post_thumb_sizecategory-posts-2": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-1920x1440.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1440
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-1180x885.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 885
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-768x576.jpg",
"width": 768,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/10/editedteens-f34c411d8c71f0119a5137d6cf614e8d485758c4-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1475843397,
"modified": 1475843397,
"caption": null,
"description": "Sure, keeping a teenager's thoughts corralled may seem like lion taming. But that impulsivity may help them learn, too.",
"title": "Sure, keeping a teenager's thoughts corralled may seem like lion taming. But that impulsivity may help them learn, too.",
"credit": null,
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"mindshift_45311": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "mindshift_45311",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "45311",
"found": true
},
"parent": 45201,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-400x225.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 225
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-960x540.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 540
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-1440x810.jpg",
"width": 1440,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 810
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-800x450.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 450
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"cat_post_thumb_sizecategory-posts-2": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-1920x1080.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1080
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-1180x664.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 664
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-150x150.jpg",
"width": 150,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 150
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 432
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1464681599,
"modified": 1464681606,
"caption": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Emotions",
"credit": "iStock",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"mindshift_44581": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "mindshift_44581",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "44581",
"found": true
},
"parent": 44561,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-400x225.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 225
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-960x540.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 540
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination.jpg",
"width": 5760,
"height": 3240
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-1440x810.jpg",
"width": 1440,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 810
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-800x450.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 450
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"cat_post_thumb_sizecategory-posts-2": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-1920x1080.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1080
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-1180x664.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 664
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 432
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/imagination-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1459544180,
"modified": 1459544228,
"caption": null,
"description": null,
"title": "imagination",
"credit": "Thomas Hawk/\u003ca href=\"https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/16361073088/\">Flickr\u003c/a>",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"mindshift_44154": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "mindshift_44154",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "44154",
"found": true
},
"parent": 44153,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-400x225.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 225
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-960x540.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 540
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-e1457079248736.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-1440x810.jpg",
"width": 1440,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 810
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-800x450.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 450
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"cat_post_thumb_sizecategory-posts-2": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-1920x1080.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1080
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-1180x664.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 664
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 432
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/03/brain-hack_wide-6be35b7f2cb34665c2efd5143847d1ef35f2411a-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1457078070,
"modified": 1457079243,
"caption": null,
"description": "Gary Waters/Getty Images/Ikon Images",
"title": "Gary Waters/Getty Images/Ikon Images",
"credit": "Gary Waters/Getty Images/Ikon Images",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"mindshift_43360": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "mindshift_43360",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "43360",
"found": true
},
"parent": 43326,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-400x225.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 225
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-960x540.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 540
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-1440x810.jpg",
"width": 1440,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 810
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-800x450.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 450
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"cat_post_thumb_sizecategory-posts-2": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-1920x1080.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1080
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-1180x664.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 664
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-768x432.jpg",
"width": 768,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 432
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/01/self-control-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1452504586,
"modified": 1452504592,
"caption": null,
"description": null,
"title": "self-control",
"credit": "iStock",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"mindshift_42529": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "mindshift_42529",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "42529",
"found": true
},
"parent": 42518,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-400x225.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 225
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-960x540.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 540
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1080
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-1440x810.jpg",
"width": 1440,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 810
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-800x450.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 450
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"cat_post_thumb_sizecategory-posts-2": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-1920x1080.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1080
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-1180x664.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 664
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/10/Child-questions-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1445410826,
"modified": 1445410834,
"caption": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Child-questions",
"credit": "iStock",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"mindshift_41976": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "mindshift_41976",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "41976",
"found": true
},
"parent": 41975,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-400x266.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 266
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-960x639.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 639
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1332
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-1440x959.jpg",
"width": 1440,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 959
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"cat_post_thumb_sizecategory-posts-2": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-1920x1279.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1279
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-1180x786.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 786
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/boy-walking-grass_enl-105a497241d0f521d165b62be279183e07b16d12-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1441820459,
"modified": 1441825425,
"caption": null,
"description": "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 68 children has an autism spectrum disorde",
"title": "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 in 68 children has an autism spectrum disorder.",
"credit": "Kelvin Murray/Getty Images",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"mindshift_41248": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "mindshift_41248",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "41248",
"found": true
},
"parent": 41218,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-400x267.jpg",
"width": 400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 267
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-960x640.jpg",
"width": 960,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 640
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o.jpg",
"width": 1732,
"height": 1154
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-1440x959.jpg",
"width": 1440,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 959
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-96x96.jpg",
"width": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 96
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-64x64.jpg",
"width": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 64
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-32x32.jpg",
"width": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 32
},
"cat_post_thumb_sizecategory-posts-2": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-50x50.jpg",
"width": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 50
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-1400x933.jpg",
"width": 1400,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 933
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-1180x786.jpg",
"width": 1180,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 786
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-75x75.jpg",
"width": 75,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 75
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/13282612855_7f45fd771e_o-128x128.jpg",
"width": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 128
}
},
"publishDate": 1437455144,
"modified": 1437455224,
"caption": "Salk Institute courtyard, La Jolla, California. ",
"description": null,
"title": "13282612855_7f45fd771e_o",
"credit": "Christian Ronnel/Flickr",
"status": "inherit",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
}
},
"audioPlayerReducer": {
"postId": "stream_live",
"isPaused": true,
"isPlaying": false,
"pfsActive": false,
"pledgeModalIsOpen": true,
"playerDrawerIsOpen": false,
"liveAudioPlayStartedAt": 0,
"liveAudioPlayContext": ""
},
"authorsReducer": {
"byline_mindshift_49102": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_mindshift_49102",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_mindshift_49102",
"name": "Jon Hamilton",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_mindshift_46640": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_mindshift_46640",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_mindshift_46640",
"name": "Erin Ross",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_mindshift_44153": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_mindshift_44153",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_mindshift_44153",
"name": "Angus Chen",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_mindshift_41975": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_mindshift_41975",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_mindshift_41975",
"name": "NPR Staff",
"isLoading": false
},
"katrinaschwartz": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "234",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "234",
"found": true
},
"name": "Katrina Schwartz",
"firstName": "Katrina",
"lastName": "Schwartz",
"slug": "katrinaschwartz",
"email": "kschwartz@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "Producer",
"bio": "Katrina Schwartz is a journalist based in San Francisco. She's worked at KPCC public radio in LA and has reported on air and online for KQED since 2010. She covered how teaching and learning is changing for MindShift between 2012 and 2020. She is the co-host of the MindShift podcast and now produces KQED's Bay Curious podcast.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/edb4ee79070447a018538c9aae6eeecf28786515b8a0c30e43b6b7dce5aa44c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "kschwart",
"bluesky": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "mindshift",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "stateofhealth",
"roles": [
"author"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Katrina Schwartz | KQED",
"description": "Producer",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/edb4ee79070447a018538c9aae6eeecf28786515b8a0c30e43b6b7dce5aa44c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/edb4ee79070447a018538c9aae6eeecf28786515b8a0c30e43b6b7dce5aa44c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/katrinaschwartz"
},
"lindaflan": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "4613",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "4613",
"found": true
},
"name": "Linda Flanagan",
"firstName": "Linda",
"lastName": "Flanagan",
"slug": "lindaflan",
"email": "lindaflan@comcast.net",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [],
"title": null,
"bio": "Linda Flanagan is a freelance writer, researcher, and editor. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, The Wall St. Journal, Newsweek, Running Times, and Mind/Shift, and she blogs regularly for the Huffington Post. Linda writes about education, culture, athletics, youth sports, mental health, politics, college admissions, and other curiosities. She also reviews books and conducts interviews.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6bca04c0736bf5eaea80654019de688f?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "LindaFlanagan2",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "mindshift",
"roles": [
"contributor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Linda Flanagan | KQED",
"description": null,
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6bca04c0736bf5eaea80654019de688f?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/6bca04c0736bf5eaea80654019de688f?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/lindaflan"
},
"dfkris": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11087",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11087",
"found": true
},
"name": "Deborah Farmer Kris",
"firstName": "Deborah Farmer",
"lastName": "Kris",
"slug": "dfkris",
"email": "dfkris@gmail.com",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [],
"title": null,
"bio": "\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/@dfkris\">Deborah Farmer Kris\u003c/a> has taught elementary, middle and high school and served as a charter school administrator. She spent a decade as an associate at Boston University’s \u003c/em>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://www.bu.edu/ccsr/about-us/\">Center for Character and Social Responsibility\u003c/a>, \u003c/em>\u003cem>researching, writing, and consulting with schools. She is the mother of two young children. You can follower her on Twitter \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/@dfkris\">@dfkris\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/48efe6f17031ed31222b74af9605fe5a?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "dfkris",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "mindshift",
"roles": [
"author"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Deborah Farmer Kris | KQED",
"description": null,
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/48efe6f17031ed31222b74af9605fe5a?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/48efe6f17031ed31222b74af9605fe5a?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/dfkris"
}
},
"pagesReducer": {
"mindshift_tag_neuroscience": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_46",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "46",
"score": 8.939988
},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Neuroscience",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Neuroscience Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 46,
"slug": "neuroscience",
"isLoading": false,
"title": "Neuroscience",
"pageMeta": {
"site": "mindshift",
"WpPageTemplate": "page-topic-editorial",
"currentPage": 3
},
"blocks": [
{
"blockName": "kqed/post-list",
"attrs": {
"layout": "cardArticle2",
"query": "posts/mindshift?tag=neuroscience",
"seeMore": false,
"paginated": true,
"page": 3
}
},
{
"blockName": "kqed/ad"
}
]
}
},
"pfsSessionReducer": {},
"postsReducer": {
"stream_live": {
"type": "live",
"id": "stream_live",
"audioUrl": "https://streams.kqed.org/kqedradio",
"title": "Live Stream",
"excerpt": "Live Stream information currently unavailable.",
"link": "/radio",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "KQED Live",
"link": "/"
}
},
"stream_kqedNewscast": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "stream_kqedNewscast",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1",
"title": "KQED Newscast",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "88.5 FM",
"link": "/"
}
},
"mindshift_50556": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "mindshift_50556",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "50556",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1505840105000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "mindshift"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1505840105,
"format": "standard",
"disqusTitle": "Being Popular: Why it Consumes Teens and Continues to Affect Adults",
"title": "Being Popular: Why it Consumes Teens and Continues to Affect Adults",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>Popularity is a loaded word. For many adults, it evokes powerful memories of jockeying for position in high school cafeterias and hallways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These memories are salient for a reason, said \u003ca href=\"http://mitch.web.unc.edu/\">Mitch Prinstein\u003c/a>, a professor of psychology and author of \u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Popular-Power-Likability-Status-Obsessed-World/dp/0399563733\">“Popular: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World.”\u003c/a> The urge to be popular among our peers reaches its zenith in adolescence, “at just the same time we are developing a stable personality,” said Prinstein. “So the messages you get at age 14 about who you are and how the world works will affect how you behave when you are 40.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But popularity has paradoxes. Sometimes the most popular students are also widely disliked by their peers — even when those same peers seek to emulate them. And although we are hardwired to seek popularity, it isn’t always healthy for us, said Prinstein. In fact, one form of popularity puts teens at risk for long-term consequences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To make sense of these biological impulses and their social implications, Prinstein’s research focuses on two distinct types of popularity: likability and status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The type of popularity that brings back memories of the middle school pecking order is related to \u003ci>status\u003c/i>. Status, said Prinstein, “is not a measure of how well a person is liked.” Rather, it reflects a person’s visibility, dominance and influence on the group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there is another type of popularity that reflects a person’s \u003ci>likability. \u003c/i>This is the first form of popularity that kids experience. “At the age of 3, you can go in and ask kids who they like most and least. The popular kids are the ones everyone likes the most,” said Prinstein. Again and again, children are drawn to peers who treat others with respect, who know how to share and cooperate, and who make other members of the group feel good about themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as children enter middle school, the equation changes. “In adolescence, something happens in our brains – the neurochemical cocktail of oxytocin and dopamine,” said Prinstein. Oxytocin (sometimes called the “love hormone”) promotes a need to connect and bond with others; dopamine activates the brain’s pleasure center and is commonly associated with the high people feel from drugs. As a result, said Prinstein, teens “become almost addicted to any type of attention from peers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, one of the fastest ways to get attention from peers is to exercise “dominance, aggression, and power, and that is where the second form of popularity — status — is formed.” Prinstein likens status-seeking to a primate beating its chest to show dominance: “The non-human part of our brains — or rather the part of our brain that resembles other animal species — makes us attuned to that type of popularity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adolescents at Risk\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prinstein notes that “the ability to interact with peers and remain emotionally regulated predicts addiction, dropout rates, relationships issues and even child-rearing ability.” Researchers have found that two groups of teens are most at risk for long-term consequences related to their social status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first group is those who experience repeated rejection from peers. “We often interpret situations based on past, not current, experiences,” said Prinstein, so teens who experience rejection in high school come to “expect rejection” as adults, coloring their interactions with others and their self-perception.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But high-status popularity also carries with it long-term risk factors. People whose popularity is grounded in status “grow up and believe that the way you get what you want is to be aggressive toward others and constantly attend to your social status,” repeating patterns that seemed to work in high school, said Prinstein. High-status teens are less likely to have satisfying friendships and romantic relationships later in life. They are also at higher risk for substance abuse problems, including DUIs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prinstein’s research points to a few ways that adults can help students navigate these two types of popularity, giving teenagers valuable context for what is happening in their brains and in the hallways at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Teach Social and Leadership Skills\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Data suggest that even after accounting for factors such as IQ and socioeconomic status, “it is our \u003ci>likability\u003c/i> that predicts so many outcomes decades later,” said Prinstein. “It’s key to how to be successful in a modern-day world. But it’s an area we spend so little time teaching and monitoring — to everybody’s detriment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, when assigning group work, teachers shouldn’t assume that teenagers have the skills to work together effectively, said Prinstein. Small groups are often a microcosm of larger social dynamics — and can be both powerful and potentially painful for participants. Teachers can prepare students for more effective group work by helping them identify and practice effective leadership skills. Prinstein’s research finds that “likable leaders lead differently than high-status leaders,” giving teachers an opportunity to explicitly promote the qualities of likable leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Likable leaders do a really good job of making everyone on the team feel valued. They do a lot of listening and not as much talking. They help create group norms and a group harmony. They make sure everyone feels heard and that the end product has a piece of what each person contributed,” said Prinstein. “In contrast, high-status leaders insert themselves into that position and exert dominance. It’s a different mindset. [Ultimately], likable leaders are the best leaders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Provide Scaffolded Support\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://asu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/creating-informal-play-opportunities-are-parents-and-preschoolers\">Evidence suggests\u003c/a> that parents can effectively support their preschoolers’ social learning and likability through “scaffolding”: providing structure and modeling of positive social behavior and then stepping back as they grow more capable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In middle and high school, parents can \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/06/23/as-teens-push-away-what-can-parents-do-to-support-success/\">still provide valuable social support\u003c/a>, said Prinstein. Instead of “How do I share my toys?” the question might be “How do I turn down an invitation gracefully?” or “How do I express my feelings to a friend who has hurt me?” According to \u003ca href=\"http://www.jstor.org/stable/585374?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents\">one study\u003c/a>, when parents talked with their children about social skills — including what to look for in a friend or how to interact positively with others — they developed stronger peer relationships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Help Teens Navigate Social Media\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Social media feeds our primal desire for peer attention, said Prinstein. Likes, followers and retweets provide what feels like measurable data about one’s social status. “We are in a status-seeking crisis as a society. There are kids who feel that their experiences haven’t really happened until they have shared them and seen how many responses they get. It erodes our ability to make our own judgments in alignment with our values.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Prinstein said, “Every media outlet tells them, ‘Gain as many followers as you can!’ But every piece of data says that this will make them lonely, depressed and at risk for relationship problems. Social media is serving some of our social needs but not all of our social needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prinstein said that, based on his research, he would offer this advice to teens: “You know that momentary high you might get by making yourself seem higher in status by disparaging others? It might feel good in the short term, but it’s not only damaging to others, it is damaging to \u003ci>you\u003c/i> in the long run. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, he said\u003cb>, \u003c/b>“Spend your time learning how to be empathic and forge genuine relationships. Connect with people. Become a better listener. Focus on developing good friendships and being likable — caring and connected with others.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, he said, “you may be better off if you are \u003ci>not\u003c/i> the most popular teen in your school.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
"disqusIdentifier": "50556 https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=50556",
"disqusUrl": "https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2017/09/19/being-popular-why-it-consumes-teens-and-continues-to-affect-adults/",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1364,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 28
},
"modified": 1518544975,
"excerpt": "The kinds of popularity adolescents and teens experience can affect the relationships they have later as adults, according to Mitch Prinstein.",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "The kinds of popularity adolescents and teens experience can affect the relationships they have later as adults, according to Mitch Prinstein.",
"title": "Being Popular: Why it Consumes Teens and Continues to Affect Adults | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Being Popular: Why it Consumes Teens and Continues to Affect Adults",
"datePublished": "2017-09-19T09:55:05-07:00",
"dateModified": "2018-02-13T10:02:55-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "being-popular-why-it-consumes-teens-and-continues-to-affect-adults",
"status": "publish",
"path": "/mindshift/50556/being-popular-why-it-consumes-teens-and-continues-to-affect-adults",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Popularity is a loaded word. For many adults, it evokes powerful memories of jockeying for position in high school cafeterias and hallways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These memories are salient for a reason, said \u003ca href=\"http://mitch.web.unc.edu/\">Mitch Prinstein\u003c/a>, a professor of psychology and author of \u003ca href=\"https://www.amazon.com/Popular-Power-Likability-Status-Obsessed-World/dp/0399563733\">“Popular: The Power of Likability in a Status-Obsessed World.”\u003c/a> The urge to be popular among our peers reaches its zenith in adolescence, “at just the same time we are developing a stable personality,” said Prinstein. “So the messages you get at age 14 about who you are and how the world works will affect how you behave when you are 40.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But popularity has paradoxes. Sometimes the most popular students are also widely disliked by their peers — even when those same peers seek to emulate them. And although we are hardwired to seek popularity, it isn’t always healthy for us, said Prinstein. In fact, one form of popularity puts teens at risk for long-term consequences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To make sense of these biological impulses and their social implications, Prinstein’s research focuses on two distinct types of popularity: likability and status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The type of popularity that brings back memories of the middle school pecking order is related to \u003ci>status\u003c/i>. Status, said Prinstein, “is not a measure of how well a person is liked.” Rather, it reflects a person’s visibility, dominance and influence on the group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there is another type of popularity that reflects a person’s \u003ci>likability. \u003c/i>This is the first form of popularity that kids experience. “At the age of 3, you can go in and ask kids who they like most and least. The popular kids are the ones everyone likes the most,” said Prinstein. Again and again, children are drawn to peers who treat others with respect, who know how to share and cooperate, and who make other members of the group feel good about themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as children enter middle school, the equation changes. “In adolescence, something happens in our brains – the neurochemical cocktail of oxytocin and dopamine,” said Prinstein. Oxytocin (sometimes called the “love hormone”) promotes a need to connect and bond with others; dopamine activates the brain’s pleasure center and is commonly associated with the high people feel from drugs. As a result, said Prinstein, teens “become almost addicted to any type of attention from peers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unfortunately, one of the fastest ways to get attention from peers is to exercise “dominance, aggression, and power, and that is where the second form of popularity — status — is formed.” Prinstein likens status-seeking to a primate beating its chest to show dominance: “The non-human part of our brains — or rather the part of our brain that resembles other animal species — makes us attuned to that type of popularity.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Adolescents at Risk\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prinstein notes that “the ability to interact with peers and remain emotionally regulated predicts addiction, dropout rates, relationships issues and even child-rearing ability.” Researchers have found that two groups of teens are most at risk for long-term consequences related to their social status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first group is those who experience repeated rejection from peers. “We often interpret situations based on past, not current, experiences,” said Prinstein, so teens who experience rejection in high school come to “expect rejection” as adults, coloring their interactions with others and their self-perception.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But high-status popularity also carries with it long-term risk factors. People whose popularity is grounded in status “grow up and believe that the way you get what you want is to be aggressive toward others and constantly attend to your social status,” repeating patterns that seemed to work in high school, said Prinstein. High-status teens are less likely to have satisfying friendships and romantic relationships later in life. They are also at higher risk for substance abuse problems, including DUIs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prinstein’s research points to a few ways that adults can help students navigate these two types of popularity, giving teenagers valuable context for what is happening in their brains and in the hallways at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Teach Social and Leadership Skills\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Data suggest that even after accounting for factors such as IQ and socioeconomic status, “it is our \u003ci>likability\u003c/i> that predicts so many outcomes decades later,” said Prinstein. “It’s key to how to be successful in a modern-day world. But it’s an area we spend so little time teaching and monitoring — to everybody’s detriment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, when assigning group work, teachers shouldn’t assume that teenagers have the skills to work together effectively, said Prinstein. Small groups are often a microcosm of larger social dynamics — and can be both powerful and potentially painful for participants. Teachers can prepare students for more effective group work by helping them identify and practice effective leadership skills. Prinstein’s research finds that “likable leaders lead differently than high-status leaders,” giving teachers an opportunity to explicitly promote the qualities of likable leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Likable leaders do a really good job of making everyone on the team feel valued. They do a lot of listening and not as much talking. They help create group norms and a group harmony. They make sure everyone feels heard and that the end product has a piece of what each person contributed,” said Prinstein. “In contrast, high-status leaders insert themselves into that position and exert dominance. It’s a different mindset. [Ultimately], likable leaders are the best leaders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Provide Scaffolded Support\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://asu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/creating-informal-play-opportunities-are-parents-and-preschoolers\">Evidence suggests\u003c/a> that parents can effectively support their preschoolers’ social learning and likability through “scaffolding”: providing structure and modeling of positive social behavior and then stepping back as they grow more capable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In middle and high school, parents can \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/06/23/as-teens-push-away-what-can-parents-do-to-support-success/\">still provide valuable social support\u003c/a>, said Prinstein. Instead of “How do I share my toys?” the question might be “How do I turn down an invitation gracefully?” or “How do I express my feelings to a friend who has hurt me?” According to \u003ca href=\"http://www.jstor.org/stable/585374?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents\">one study\u003c/a>, when parents talked with their children about social skills — including what to look for in a friend or how to interact positively with others — they developed stronger peer relationships.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Help Teens Navigate Social Media\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Social media feeds our primal desire for peer attention, said Prinstein. Likes, followers and retweets provide what feels like measurable data about one’s social status. “We are in a status-seeking crisis as a society. There are kids who feel that their experiences haven’t really happened until they have shared them and seen how many responses they get. It erodes our ability to make our own judgments in alignment with our values.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Prinstein said, “Every media outlet tells them, ‘Gain as many followers as you can!’ But every piece of data says that this will make them lonely, depressed and at risk for relationship problems. Social media is serving some of our social needs but not all of our social needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prinstein said that, based on his research, he would offer this advice to teens: “You know that momentary high you might get by making yourself seem higher in status by disparaging others? It might feel good in the short term, but it’s not only damaging to others, it is damaging to \u003ci>you\u003c/i> in the long run. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, he said\u003cb>, \u003c/b>“Spend your time learning how to be empathic and forge genuine relationships. Connect with people. Become a better listener. Focus on developing good friendships and being likable — caring and connected with others.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, he said, “you may be better off if you are \u003ci>not\u003c/i> the most popular teen in your school.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/mindshift/50556/being-popular-why-it-consumes-teens-and-continues-to-affect-adults",
"authors": [
"11087"
],
"categories": [
"mindshift_192"
],
"tags": [
"mindshift_21093",
"mindshift_21078",
"mindshift_46",
"mindshift_21139",
"mindshift_30",
"mindshift_21159",
"mindshift_1038"
],
"featImg": "mindshift_49249",
"label": "mindshift"
},
"mindshift_49102": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "mindshift_49102",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "49102",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1503660179000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "mindshift"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1503660179,
"format": "standard",
"disqusTitle": "Really? Really. How Our Brains Figure Out What Words Mean Based On How They're Said",
"title": "Really? Really. How Our Brains Figure Out What Words Mean Based On How They're Said",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>It's not just what you say that matters. It's how you say it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take the phrase, \"Here's Johnny.\" When Ed McMahon used it to introduce Johnny Carson on \u003cem>The Tonight Show,\u003c/em> the words were an enthusiastic greeting. But in \u003cem>The Shining,\u003c/em> Jack Nicholson used the same two words to convey murderous intent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now scientists are \u003ca href=\"http://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aam8577\">reporting\u003c/a> in the journal \u003cem>Science \u003c/em>that they have identified specialized brain cells that help us understand what a speaker really means. These cells do this by keeping track of changes in the pitch of the voice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We found that there were groups of neurons that were specialized and dedicated just for the processing of pitch,\" says \u003ca href=\"http://neurosurgery.ucsf.edu/index.php/about_us_faculty_chang_edward.html\">Dr. Eddie Chang\u003c/a>, a professor of neurological surgery at the University of California, San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chang says these neurons allow the brain to detect \"the melody of speech,\" or intonation, while other specialized brain cells identify vowels and consonants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Intonation is about how we say things,\" Chang says. \"It's important because we can change the meaning, even — without actually changing the words themselves.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, by raising the pitch of our voice at the end of a sentence, a statement can become a question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The identification of neurons that detect changes in pitch was largely the work of \u003ca href=\"http://changlab.ucsf.edu/our-team/\">Claire Tang\u003c/a>, a graduate student in Chang's lab and the \u003cem>Science \u003c/em>paper's lead author.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tang and a team of researchers studied the brains of 10 epilepsy patients awaiting surgery. The patients had electrodes placed temporarily on the surface of their brains to help surgeons identify the source of their seizures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This allowed the team to monitor the activity of cells in each patient's brain as they listened to a series of sentences spoken by a computer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"What we did was change where the intonation contour — the pitch changes — were happening in each of those sentences,\" Chang says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the volunteers would hear different versions of a sentence like, \"Reindeer are a visual animal.\" Sometimes the computer voice started high and ended low, making the sentence a statement. Other times it started low and ended high, making the sentence a question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cells that track pitch didn't care whether they heard a high female voice or a low male voice, Chang says. It was the pattern of pitch changes that mattered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"To people like musicians this is not a surprise,\" Chang says, \"because you can take a melody and shift all of its notes higher or lower, but it's still recognizable.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The identification of specialized cells that track intonation shows just how much importance the human brain assigns to hearing, says \u003ca href=\"https://www.communication.northwestern.edu/faculty/NinaKraus\">Nina Kraus\u003c/a>, a neurobiologist who runs the \u003ca href=\"http://www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu/\">Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory\u003c/a> at Northwestern University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Processing sound is one of the most complex jobs that we ask our brain to do,\" Kraus says. And it's a skill that some brains learn better than others, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kraus found that out when she did a \u003ca href=\"http://www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu/documents/KrausBanai2007_CDir.pdf\">study\u003c/a> that looked at whether musicians were better than people who aren't musicians at recognizing the subtle tonal changes found in Mandarin Chinese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The English-speaking musicians were able to process with high precision those contours,\" she says, \"and the nonmusicians didn't.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, recognizing intonation is a skill that's often impaired in people with autism, Kraus says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"A typically developing child will process those pitch contours very precisely,\" Kraus says. \"But some kids on the autism spectrum don't. They understand the words you are saying, but they are not understanding how you mean it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new study suggests that may be because the brain cells that usually keep track of pitch aren't working the way they should.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Really%3F+Really.+How+Our+Brains+Figure+Out+What+Words+Mean+Based+On+How+They%27re+Said&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
"disqusIdentifier": "49102 https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=49102",
"disqusUrl": "https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2017/08/25/really-really-how-our-brains-figure-out-what-words-mean-based-on-how-theyre-said/",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 632,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 23
},
"modified": 1503660179,
"excerpt": "Scientists have identified the brain cells that detect pitch changes in speech, allowing us to understand whether someone is asking a question or making a statement.",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Scientists have identified the brain cells that detect pitch changes in speech, allowing us to understand whether someone is asking a question or making a statement.",
"title": "Really? Really. How Our Brains Figure Out What Words Mean Based On How They're Said | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Really? Really. How Our Brains Figure Out What Words Mean Based On How They're Said",
"datePublished": "2017-08-25T04:22:59-07:00",
"dateModified": "2017-08-25T04:22:59-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "really-really-how-our-brains-figure-out-what-words-mean-based-on-how-theyre-said",
"status": "publish",
"nprApiLink": "http://api.npr.org/query?id=545711940&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004",
"nprByline": "Jon Hamilton",
"nprStoryDate": "Thu, 24 Aug 2017 14:44:00 -0400",
"nprLastModifiedDate": "Thu, 24 Aug 2017 17:16:36 -0400",
"nprHtmlLink": "http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/08/24/545711940/pitch-neurons?ft=nprml&f=545711940",
"nprAudio": "https://ondemand.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2017/08/20170824_atc_really_really_how_our_brains_figure_out_what_words_mean_based_on_how_theyre_said.mp3?orgId=1&topicId=1128&d=176&p=2&story=545711940&t=progseg&e=545754873&seg=19&ft=nprml&f=545711940",
"nprImageAgency": "Lizzie Roberts/Ikon Images/Getty Images",
"nprAudioM3u": "http://api.npr.org/m3u/1545901949-466900.m3u?orgId=1&topicId=1128&d=176&p=2&story=545711940&t=progseg&e=545754873&seg=19&ft=nprml&f=545711940",
"nprStoryId": "545711940",
"nprRetrievedStory": "1",
"nprPubDate": "Thu, 24 Aug 2017 20:01:00 -0400",
"path": "/mindshift/49102/really-really-how-our-brains-figure-out-what-words-mean-based-on-how-theyre-said",
"audioUrl": "https://ondemand.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/atc/2017/08/20170824_atc_really_really_how_our_brains_figure_out_what_words_mean_based_on_how_theyre_said.mp3?orgId=1&topicId=1128&d=176&p=2&story=545711940&t=progseg&e=545754873&seg=19&ft=nprml&f=545711940",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It's not just what you say that matters. It's how you say it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Take the phrase, \"Here's Johnny.\" When Ed McMahon used it to introduce Johnny Carson on \u003cem>The Tonight Show,\u003c/em> the words were an enthusiastic greeting. But in \u003cem>The Shining,\u003c/em> Jack Nicholson used the same two words to convey murderous intent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now scientists are \u003ca href=\"http://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aam8577\">reporting\u003c/a> in the journal \u003cem>Science \u003c/em>that they have identified specialized brain cells that help us understand what a speaker really means. These cells do this by keeping track of changes in the pitch of the voice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We found that there were groups of neurons that were specialized and dedicated just for the processing of pitch,\" says \u003ca href=\"http://neurosurgery.ucsf.edu/index.php/about_us_faculty_chang_edward.html\">Dr. Eddie Chang\u003c/a>, a professor of neurological surgery at the University of California, San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chang says these neurons allow the brain to detect \"the melody of speech,\" or intonation, while other specialized brain cells identify vowels and consonants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Intonation is about how we say things,\" Chang says. \"It's important because we can change the meaning, even — without actually changing the words themselves.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, by raising the pitch of our voice at the end of a sentence, a statement can become a question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The identification of neurons that detect changes in pitch was largely the work of \u003ca href=\"http://changlab.ucsf.edu/our-team/\">Claire Tang\u003c/a>, a graduate student in Chang's lab and the \u003cem>Science \u003c/em>paper's lead author.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tang and a team of researchers studied the brains of 10 epilepsy patients awaiting surgery. The patients had electrodes placed temporarily on the surface of their brains to help surgeons identify the source of their seizures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This allowed the team to monitor the activity of cells in each patient's brain as they listened to a series of sentences spoken by a computer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"What we did was change where the intonation contour — the pitch changes — were happening in each of those sentences,\" Chang says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the volunteers would hear different versions of a sentence like, \"Reindeer are a visual animal.\" Sometimes the computer voice started high and ended low, making the sentence a statement. Other times it started low and ended high, making the sentence a question.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cells that track pitch didn't care whether they heard a high female voice or a low male voice, Chang says. It was the pattern of pitch changes that mattered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"To people like musicians this is not a surprise,\" Chang says, \"because you can take a melody and shift all of its notes higher or lower, but it's still recognizable.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The identification of specialized cells that track intonation shows just how much importance the human brain assigns to hearing, says \u003ca href=\"https://www.communication.northwestern.edu/faculty/NinaKraus\">Nina Kraus\u003c/a>, a neurobiologist who runs the \u003ca href=\"http://www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu/\">Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory\u003c/a> at Northwestern University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Processing sound is one of the most complex jobs that we ask our brain to do,\" Kraus says. And it's a skill that some brains learn better than others, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kraus found that out when she did a \u003ca href=\"http://www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu/documents/KrausBanai2007_CDir.pdf\">study\u003c/a> that looked at whether musicians were better than people who aren't musicians at recognizing the subtle tonal changes found in Mandarin Chinese.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The English-speaking musicians were able to process with high precision those contours,\" she says, \"and the nonmusicians didn't.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other hand, recognizing intonation is a skill that's often impaired in people with autism, Kraus says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"A typically developing child will process those pitch contours very precisely,\" Kraus says. \"But some kids on the autism spectrum don't. They understand the words you are saying, but they are not understanding how you mean it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new study suggests that may be because the brain cells that usually keep track of pitch aren't working the way they should.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Really%3F+Really.+How+Our+Brains+Figure+Out+What+Words+Mean+Based+On+How+They%27re+Said&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/mindshift/49102/really-really-how-our-brains-figure-out-what-words-mean-based-on-how-theyre-said",
"authors": [
"byline_mindshift_49102"
],
"categories": [
"mindshift_192"
],
"tags": [
"mindshift_21052",
"mindshift_184",
"mindshift_20784",
"mindshift_1040",
"mindshift_46"
],
"featImg": "mindshift_49103",
"label": "mindshift"
},
"mindshift_46956": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "mindshift_46956",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "46956",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1481700881000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "mindshift"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1481700881,
"format": "standard",
"disqusTitle": "Why Executive Function Is A Vital Stepping-Stone For Kids' Ability to Learn",
"title": "Why Executive Function Is A Vital Stepping-Stone For Kids' Ability to Learn",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>Neuroscientists and educational psychologists are constantly learning more about how children learn and the various influences beyond IQ that affect cognition. Some research, like Carol Dweck’s on \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/growth-mindset/\" target=\"_blank\">growth mindset\u003c/a> or Angela Duckworth’s on \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/03/17/can-focus-on-grit-work-in-school-cultures-that-reward-grades/\" target=\"_blank\">grit\u003c/a>, quickly became catch phrases among educators. At the same time, \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/05/05/does-the-grit-narrative-blame-students-for-schools-shortcomings/\" target=\"_blank\">critics have pushed back\u003c/a> against the notion that students underperform only because of cognitive deficits, pointing to an equally pressing need for big changes to teaching practice. Many teachers are trying to combine the research about cognitive skills with more effective teaching practices. They are finding that whether students are working on self-directed projects or worksheets, executive functioning skills are important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bruce Wexler has been studying executive functioning -- a group of \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8sciences.com/about/8ccc/\" target=\"_blank\">cognitive abilities\u003c/a> crucial for managing oneself and information -- for the past 20 years. He first worked with adults, but he began to wonder if he could design interventions specifically for young children to get them started down a positive path before any of the negative secondary qualities associated with under-achievement -- like disengagement, low self-esteem and behavior problems -- began to manifest at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The data just keeps coming in about the importance of focus, self-control and working memory for learning and life,” Wexler said in an \u003ca href=\"http://www.edweb.net/brain\" target=\"_blank\">edWeb\u003c/a> webinar. One meta-analysis of six studies found that a child’s executive functioning skills in kindergarten \u003ca href=\"http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/5971/1/Duckworth2007SchoolReadiness1428.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">predicted reading and math achievement into middle school\u003c/a> and beyond. This research is particularly important because students who have poor executive functioning skills because of trauma, poverty, or diagnosed disorders are missing out on learning. Often these children haven’t had a chance to develop executive functioning skills required for school before arriving there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4200392/\" target=\"_blank\">Many kinds of interventions can work\u003c/a> to improve executive functioning, another reason researchers feel confident that this cognitive ability is not innate, but rather taught. Martial arts, yoga and exercise, among others, help improve students’ ability to focus and control themselves. Wexler helped design his own intervention, called \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8sciences.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Activate\u003c/a>, which uses a mixture of online games and physical activities to target \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8sciences.com/about/8ccc/sustained-attention/\" target=\"_blank\">focus\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8sciences.com/about/8ccc/response-inhibition/\" target=\"_blank\">self-control\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8sciences.com/about/8ccc/working-memory/\" target=\"_blank\">working memory\u003c/a>, the skills most closely linked with academic achievement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To test whether the program works Wexler’s company, C8Sciences, took \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8sciences.com/about/nih-toolbox-assessments/\" target=\"_blank\">executive function tests \u003c/a>designed by the National Institutes of Health and made them Web-based so teachers could use them in class. These tests helped Wexler’s team learn about the relative areas of cognitive weaknesses in students before using the Activate program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Soon it became evident that not only did we want that information, but that it was very valuable for teachers,” Wexler said. It’s often hard for a teacher to know when a student isn’t learning something because of a lack of executive functioning capacity, because it hasn’t been taught well enough, or because the student just needs more time with the content. The online diagnostic tests helped give them valuable insight to tailor their teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After determining a baseline for students, Wexler’s team asked teachers to use the Activate program and then tested students after four months to see how it affected their cognitive abilities. Early tests showed the training \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8schools.com/bristol-kids-improve-test-scores/\" target=\"_blank\">improved working memory\u003c/a>, but Wexler was more interested in whether the training would carry over into \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8schools.com/academic-outcomes/\" target=\"_blank\">academic achievement\u003c/a>, so he tested third-graders from a low-income school on reading proficiency. In the test group that used Activate, 83 percent of students reached third-grade reading proficiency, compared to 58 percent districtwide. On a first-grade math proficiency test, 92 percent of students in the test group reached proficiency, compared to 63 percent districtwide. In another first-grade class at the same school that did not receive the training, only 53 percent of students reached proficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Training these executive functions leads to improvement in achievement schools,” Wexler concluded. And the effects seemed to last through the summer. Another test showed kindergartners who received the training showed better executive functioning skills when they started first grade than their peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Wexler compared the effects he was seeing to other interventions -- like one-on-one tutoring, summer and after-school programming -- improving executive functioning skills had a much bigger effect. “Training a whole classroom in focus, self-control, and memory has a bigger effect on math achievement than providing one-on-one tutoring,” Wexler said. Tutoring had the next strongest effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Executive functioning training also seems to make a difference regardless of student IQ. “Its effect was four times as big as the differences in IQ,” Wexler said. “Of course IQ is important, but executive functioning is something we can do something about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>SCHOOLS FOCUSING ON EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.carlisleschools.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Carlisle Area School District\u003c/a> has taken the research on executive function and put it into practice, especially in K-5 schools where educators hope to improve these cognitive skills early so students don’t fall behind. District leaders started by educating teachers about different neural pathways and why problems with executive functioning could lead to problems with learning. In trainings they give teachers scenarios, and ask them to identify a student’s cognitive weakness based on behavior, and then design an intervention. They also ask teachers to reflect on their own cognitive weaknesses and where they might be able to identify with a disorganized student or one who has a hard time staying on task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlisle teachers also have a long list of strategies they integrate into the day with the whole class that emphasize \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/03/03/20-strategies-for-motivating-reluctant-learners/\">brain breaks\u003c/a>, exercise and routines. Additionally, some children need more help developing executive functioning, and educators differentiate strategies for them as well. They often talk to students about how their brain works and emphasize that when their “amygdala is hijacked,” they need to stop and think about the next action rather than lashing out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>STRATEGIES\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Breathing buddies: Students lie down on the floor with a favorite stuffed animal on their chests. They slowly breathe in and out, watching the animal rise and fall. This helps students calm down when they are upset and gives them a strategy to implement when they feel themselves getting worked up.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Teachers keep “meta boxes” in their classrooms full of fidget toys students can use to help them pay attention when they feel like they need to move.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>When transitioning between subjects or recess, teachers often play calming music and let only five kids in at a time to limit the chaos.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Many elementary school teachers have had the experience of asking a question, seeing many hands in the air, but then calling on a student who says he forgot. That could be a working memory problem. Some Carlisle teachers are proactively addressing this by letting those kids record their thoughts on paper or a device so they can contribute when they’re called on.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Carlisle was an early adopter of Wexler’s Activate program, too. The iPad lessons focus on typical working memory games that require students to remember the order of things, progressively getting harder as the game develops. The physical games reinforce the online learning with social interactions that help embed the memories in movement. Mass ball is one game that requires students to throw a ball in a specific sequence. Students have to juggle paying attention to the order and catching the ball.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Carlisle teachers also have students do a lot of balancing games, which help with executive functioning. Teachers might ask students to walk on a line balancing bean bags on their heads or to do the same walk on tiptoe. Teachers also use relay races to get kids moving, since exercise alone helps with executive functioning.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Adults have an attention span of about 12 minutes with a fully developed executive functioning system, so it’s no wonder kids can’t focus without a break. “It cannot be overemphasized that all of us need to be thinking about taking information in smaller chunks,” said Malinda Mikesell, the reading supervisor for the Carlisle Area School District. She said kids need an opportunity to do something with the information on their own before having the chance to reset for the next chunk of information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have mature executive function systems as adults, so we have to be careful that we’re not putting our perspective onto very immature executive functioning systems,” Mikesell said. She also emphasized that teachers in her district have successfully involved parents in their effort to improve executive functions, educating the adults about the brain and what cognitive weaknesses look like. Often parents have noticed the same lack of short-term memory, difficulty focusing, and disorganization affecting kids at school, and are happy to learn tips to help their child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mikesell said Carlisle is in the early stages of evaluating data on how well their approach is working. Early data showed that kids in the Activate program were outperforming peers not in the program on reading tests. Teachers are also reporting stories about disorganized students improving, who never had what they needed for the day or activity. Now those students are able to follow the classroom routines and are benefiting from checklists and visual organizers that teachers put together to help them with their working memory weaknesses.\u003c/p>\n\n",
"disqusIdentifier": "46956 http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=46956",
"disqusUrl": "https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/12/13/why-executive-function-is-a-vital-stepping-stone-for-kids-ability-to-learn/",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1563,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 19
},
"modified": 1481763422,
"excerpt": "Training teachers how identify executive functioning issues in kids is helping to create opportunities for teaching kids skills that lead to better lives. ",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Training teachers how identify executive functioning issues in kids is helping to create opportunities for teaching kids skills that lead to better lives. ",
"title": "Why Executive Function Is A Vital Stepping-Stone For Kids' Ability to Learn | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Why Executive Function Is A Vital Stepping-Stone For Kids' Ability to Learn",
"datePublished": "2016-12-13T23:34:41-08:00",
"dateModified": "2016-12-14T16:57:02-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "why-executive-function-is-a-vital-stepping-stone-for-kids-ability-to-learn",
"status": "publish",
"path": "/mindshift/46956/why-executive-function-is-a-vital-stepping-stone-for-kids-ability-to-learn",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Neuroscientists and educational psychologists are constantly learning more about how children learn and the various influences beyond IQ that affect cognition. Some research, like Carol Dweck’s on \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/growth-mindset/\" target=\"_blank\">growth mindset\u003c/a> or Angela Duckworth’s on \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/03/17/can-focus-on-grit-work-in-school-cultures-that-reward-grades/\" target=\"_blank\">grit\u003c/a>, quickly became catch phrases among educators. At the same time, \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/05/05/does-the-grit-narrative-blame-students-for-schools-shortcomings/\" target=\"_blank\">critics have pushed back\u003c/a> against the notion that students underperform only because of cognitive deficits, pointing to an equally pressing need for big changes to teaching practice. Many teachers are trying to combine the research about cognitive skills with more effective teaching practices. They are finding that whether students are working on self-directed projects or worksheets, executive functioning skills are important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bruce Wexler has been studying executive functioning -- a group of \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8sciences.com/about/8ccc/\" target=\"_blank\">cognitive abilities\u003c/a> crucial for managing oneself and information -- for the past 20 years. He first worked with adults, but he began to wonder if he could design interventions specifically for young children to get them started down a positive path before any of the negative secondary qualities associated with under-achievement -- like disengagement, low self-esteem and behavior problems -- began to manifest at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The data just keeps coming in about the importance of focus, self-control and working memory for learning and life,” Wexler said in an \u003ca href=\"http://www.edweb.net/brain\" target=\"_blank\">edWeb\u003c/a> webinar. One meta-analysis of six studies found that a child’s executive functioning skills in kindergarten \u003ca href=\"http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/5971/1/Duckworth2007SchoolReadiness1428.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">predicted reading and math achievement into middle school\u003c/a> and beyond. This research is particularly important because students who have poor executive functioning skills because of trauma, poverty, or diagnosed disorders are missing out on learning. Often these children haven’t had a chance to develop executive functioning skills required for school before arriving there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4200392/\" target=\"_blank\">Many kinds of interventions can work\u003c/a> to improve executive functioning, another reason researchers feel confident that this cognitive ability is not innate, but rather taught. Martial arts, yoga and exercise, among others, help improve students’ ability to focus and control themselves. Wexler helped design his own intervention, called \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8sciences.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Activate\u003c/a>, which uses a mixture of online games and physical activities to target \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8sciences.com/about/8ccc/sustained-attention/\" target=\"_blank\">focus\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8sciences.com/about/8ccc/response-inhibition/\" target=\"_blank\">self-control\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8sciences.com/about/8ccc/working-memory/\" target=\"_blank\">working memory\u003c/a>, the skills most closely linked with academic achievement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To test whether the program works Wexler’s company, C8Sciences, took \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8sciences.com/about/nih-toolbox-assessments/\" target=\"_blank\">executive function tests \u003c/a>designed by the National Institutes of Health and made them Web-based so teachers could use them in class. These tests helped Wexler’s team learn about the relative areas of cognitive weaknesses in students before using the Activate program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Soon it became evident that not only did we want that information, but that it was very valuable for teachers,” Wexler said. It’s often hard for a teacher to know when a student isn’t learning something because of a lack of executive functioning capacity, because it hasn’t been taught well enough, or because the student just needs more time with the content. The online diagnostic tests helped give them valuable insight to tailor their teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After determining a baseline for students, Wexler’s team asked teachers to use the Activate program and then tested students after four months to see how it affected their cognitive abilities. Early tests showed the training \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8schools.com/bristol-kids-improve-test-scores/\" target=\"_blank\">improved working memory\u003c/a>, but Wexler was more interested in whether the training would carry over into \u003ca href=\"http://www.c8schools.com/academic-outcomes/\" target=\"_blank\">academic achievement\u003c/a>, so he tested third-graders from a low-income school on reading proficiency. In the test group that used Activate, 83 percent of students reached third-grade reading proficiency, compared to 58 percent districtwide. On a first-grade math proficiency test, 92 percent of students in the test group reached proficiency, compared to 63 percent districtwide. In another first-grade class at the same school that did not receive the training, only 53 percent of students reached proficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Training these executive functions leads to improvement in achievement schools,” Wexler concluded. And the effects seemed to last through the summer. Another test showed kindergartners who received the training showed better executive functioning skills when they started first grade than their peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Wexler compared the effects he was seeing to other interventions -- like one-on-one tutoring, summer and after-school programming -- improving executive functioning skills had a much bigger effect. “Training a whole classroom in focus, self-control, and memory has a bigger effect on math achievement than providing one-on-one tutoring,” Wexler said. Tutoring had the next strongest effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Executive functioning training also seems to make a difference regardless of student IQ. “Its effect was four times as big as the differences in IQ,” Wexler said. “Of course IQ is important, but executive functioning is something we can do something about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>SCHOOLS FOCUSING ON EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://www.carlisleschools.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Carlisle Area School District\u003c/a> has taken the research on executive function and put it into practice, especially in K-5 schools where educators hope to improve these cognitive skills early so students don’t fall behind. District leaders started by educating teachers about different neural pathways and why problems with executive functioning could lead to problems with learning. In trainings they give teachers scenarios, and ask them to identify a student’s cognitive weakness based on behavior, and then design an intervention. They also ask teachers to reflect on their own cognitive weaknesses and where they might be able to identify with a disorganized student or one who has a hard time staying on task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carlisle teachers also have a long list of strategies they integrate into the day with the whole class that emphasize \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/03/03/20-strategies-for-motivating-reluctant-learners/\">brain breaks\u003c/a>, exercise and routines. Additionally, some children need more help developing executive functioning, and educators differentiate strategies for them as well. They often talk to students about how their brain works and emphasize that when their “amygdala is hijacked,” they need to stop and think about the next action rather than lashing out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>STRATEGIES\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Breathing buddies: Students lie down on the floor with a favorite stuffed animal on their chests. They slowly breathe in and out, watching the animal rise and fall. This helps students calm down when they are upset and gives them a strategy to implement when they feel themselves getting worked up.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Teachers keep “meta boxes” in their classrooms full of fidget toys students can use to help them pay attention when they feel like they need to move.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>When transitioning between subjects or recess, teachers often play calming music and let only five kids in at a time to limit the chaos.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Many elementary school teachers have had the experience of asking a question, seeing many hands in the air, but then calling on a student who says he forgot. That could be a working memory problem. Some Carlisle teachers are proactively addressing this by letting those kids record their thoughts on paper or a device so they can contribute when they’re called on.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Carlisle was an early adopter of Wexler’s Activate program, too. The iPad lessons focus on typical working memory games that require students to remember the order of things, progressively getting harder as the game develops. The physical games reinforce the online learning with social interactions that help embed the memories in movement. Mass ball is one game that requires students to throw a ball in a specific sequence. Students have to juggle paying attention to the order and catching the ball.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Carlisle teachers also have students do a lot of balancing games, which help with executive functioning. Teachers might ask students to walk on a line balancing bean bags on their heads or to do the same walk on tiptoe. Teachers also use relay races to get kids moving, since exercise alone helps with executive functioning.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Adults have an attention span of about 12 minutes with a fully developed executive functioning system, so it’s no wonder kids can’t focus without a break. “It cannot be overemphasized that all of us need to be thinking about taking information in smaller chunks,” said Malinda Mikesell, the reading supervisor for the Carlisle Area School District. She said kids need an opportunity to do something with the information on their own before having the chance to reset for the next chunk of information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have mature executive function systems as adults, so we have to be careful that we’re not putting our perspective onto very immature executive functioning systems,” Mikesell said. She also emphasized that teachers in her district have successfully involved parents in their effort to improve executive functions, educating the adults about the brain and what cognitive weaknesses look like. Often parents have noticed the same lack of short-term memory, difficulty focusing, and disorganization affecting kids at school, and are happy to learn tips to help their child.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mikesell said Carlisle is in the early stages of evaluating data on how well their approach is working. Early data showed that kids in the Activate program were outperforming peers not in the program on reading tests. Teachers are also reporting stories about disorganized students improving, who never had what they needed for the day or activity. Now those students are able to follow the classroom routines and are benefiting from checklists and visual organizers that teachers put together to help them with their working memory weaknesses.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/mindshift/46956/why-executive-function-is-a-vital-stepping-stone-for-kids-ability-to-learn",
"authors": [
"234"
],
"categories": [
"mindshift_195",
"mindshift_193"
],
"tags": [
"mindshift_20955",
"mindshift_20784",
"mindshift_1040",
"mindshift_46",
"mindshift_20867"
],
"featImg": "mindshift_47134",
"label": "mindshift"
},
"mindshift_46865": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "mindshift_46865",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "46865",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1479734311000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "mindshift"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1479734311,
"format": "standard",
"disqusTitle": "What Neuroscience Can Tell Us About Making Fractions Stick",
"title": "What Neuroscience Can Tell Us About Making Fractions Stick",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>Fractions are a notoriously tricky part of elementary math education for many children. Too often teachers struggle to ensure students are grasping the conceptual underpinnings of this complicated topic, resorting to “tricks” that will help them learn the procedures of adding or multiplying instead. This is particularly troubling because \u003ca href=\"http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/report/final-report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">studies have shown\u003c/a> that students’ knowledge of \u003ca href=\"http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~siegler/Siegler-etal-inpressPsySci.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">sixth grade fractions is a good predictor of their math achievement in high school\u003c/a>. This is largely because a deep understanding of fractions plays out in algebra.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If a student has a solid understanding of fractions and precisely what they represent, they’re likely to perform much better with algebra,” said Valorie Salimpoor, a researcher at the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto, during an \u003ca href=\"http://home.edweb.net/\" target=\"_blank\">edWeb\u003c/a> presentation on the neuroscience of fractions. She thinks educators have an opportunity to leverage what researchers know about brain science to ensure students learn fractions well, but also admits that learning math is cognitively taxing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_46867\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 957px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-46867\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math.png\" alt=\"The various regions of the brain recruited when learning fractions.\" width=\"957\" height=\"716\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math.png 957w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math-160x120.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math-800x599.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math-768x575.png 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math-240x180.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math-375x281.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math-520x389.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 957px) 100vw, 957px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The various regions of the brain recruited when learning fractions. \u003ccite>(Valorie Salimpoor)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Learning a new math concept takes a toll on the brain not only because of the new math concepts, but also because students must recruit many parts of the brain to solve any problem. For example, students need visuospatial and auditory working memory when solving a fractions problem, and they must focus attention, inhibit distractions, order tasks, recall information from long term memory and integrate new concepts into an old schema. There’s a lot of mental processing going on when learning math, so understanding how careful brain-based instruction can prime the brain for new learning becomes extra important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>OPTIMIZE INFORMATION PROCESSING\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a person learns something new she forms a connection between two previously unconnected neurons. If that connection is weak, the new learning can easily be lost through forgetting. But the stronger the pathway and the more ways a person has learned the information, the more likely it will become encoded into long term memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To improve a student’s information processing around fractions neuroscience tells us teachers should both present information and give students ways to interact with it, in a variety of ways. For example, explaining how to add fractions only uses an auditory pathway. Showing fractions on a line graph or as a pie chart are two other ways of presenting the same information. Asking students to visualize parts of the whole and show fractions using manipulatives are two more ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every time you are visualizing this in a different way, you are recruiting different neurons and neural connections,” Salimpoor said. And she says active learning through problem solving or manipulation is a whole different ballpark neurally than passively listening, partly because even if a student looks like she is listening she still may not be paying attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In one case you are passively absorbing information and in the other case you have to initiate the motor sequences and carrying them through,” Salimpoor said. When students are actively learning they are using the frontal lobe to determine what needs to happen next and to organize the information, as well as the motor regions of the brain to carry it out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_46869\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 670px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-46869\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/gray-matter-over-time.png\" alt=\"In the first years of life babies are rapidly forming new connections between neurons, creating a dense network that represents deeply encoded learning.\" width=\"670\" height=\"486\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/gray-matter-over-time.png 670w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/gray-matter-over-time-160x116.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/gray-matter-over-time-240x174.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/gray-matter-over-time-375x272.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/gray-matter-over-time-520x377.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the first years of life babies are rapidly forming new connections between neurons, creating a dense network that represents deeply encoded learning. \u003ccite>(Source: Corel, JL. The postnatal development of the human cerebral cortex. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1975.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The more areas we recruit, the more elaborate this network becomes,” Salimpoor said. That’s important because later when the student tries to recall the new information and pings one node in the network, the entire system is primed to help retrieve the information. It’s also important for students to continue recalling that information in order to strengthen the network, even if a concept was introduced in many ways initially. Ultimately for something to be learned well it needs to be integrated into the student’s general schema, which happens through practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>STRENGTHENING NEURAL NETWORKS\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Practicing a new concept is one way good way to strengthen a neural network, but if students only practice using one problem solving strategy, that practice is leading to memorizing, not deep conceptual knowledge. To strengthen the whole network and by doing so deepening understanding, they must practice using various ways of visualizing and solving the same problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s most important to create problems where students have to initiate and come up with their own solutions,” Salimpoor said. “This makes a big difference. You can never have too much of that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neurochemicals like dopamine can also create shortcuts to encoding information. The brain releases dopamine in response to novelty or when a person is anticipating something and doesn’t know what’s going to happen. When a student is \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/05/31/why-emotions-are-integral-to-learning/\" target=\"_blank\">emotionally invested\u003c/a> in the learning or finds it intrinsically motivating, dopamine is also present. And dopamine helps strengthen neural networks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salimpoor uses the dopamine trick whenever she wants her toddler son to learn something new. She knows he loves trains, so if she can fold whatever new information she wants him to learn within a train narrative she knows he will be paying attention, intrinsically motivated and releasing dopamine that will help hardwire the new concepts. Rewards can also be a way to get at dopamine, but Salimpoor warns external rewards are never going to be as powerful as getting students to personally care about the learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>GETTING AT CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the trickiest things about helping students develop a deep conceptual understanding of a topic like fractions is that each student is coming into the learning experience not only with different levels of math knowledge, but also with different levels of working memory, executive functioning skills, ability to pay attention, and all the other non-content skills related to learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way a teacher can use brain science to help students get at the deeper concepts is to relieve the pressure on students working memories as they are learning the new information. Salimpoor says working memory is a big challenge for many children. “If you can’t hold all of this new information in your mind, you can’t really process it,” she said. And if the information isn’t getting processed, it isn’t getting integrated into the large schema a child holds in his head of how things work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While some students might be very skilled at working memory, the ones who aren’t as good really suffer because they can’t take in all that information and process it, so they just tune out,” Salimpoor said. Teachers can be aware of this and try to break concepts down into the cognitive elements, always being mindful of how many pieces of new information the children need to hold in their minds at the same time to solve a problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When possible teachers can give students supports, like visuals representing the fractions, to work with as they are introduced to a concept. When the student has the visual, he doesn’t have to hold the symbolic representation of the fraction in his working memory as he figure out how to add the two together. After the concept has been introduced, teachers can slowly remove those scaffolds. Writing information down is another way student can offload some of what would be stored in working memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Working memory is one challenge, but it is very hard for teachers to identify all the specific ways students differ from one another cognitively. This is where technology can help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salimpoor has helped design a videogame focused on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions -- the skills any student should have mastered by the end of sixth grade -- that puts all her neuroscience expertise for learning into the game mechanics. Called \u003ca href=\"http://fogstoneisle.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Fog Stone Island\u003c/a> and produced by \u003ca href=\"http://www.cignition.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Cignition\u003c/a>, the game is free and available online to teachers and students. Salimpoor said the game tracks the intangible information like working memory ability and executive functioning that a teacher would have a hard time identifying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_46870\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 952px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-46870\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island.png\" alt=\"A screen capture of Fog Stone Island juxtaposed with an image of the brain shows how multiple multiple brain regions are being stimulated while working on multiplying fractions.\" width=\"952\" height=\"540\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island.png 952w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island-160x91.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island-800x454.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island-768x436.png 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island-240x136.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island-375x213.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island-520x295.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 952px) 100vw, 952px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A screen capture of Fog Stone Island juxtaposed with an image of the brain shows how multiple multiple brain regions are being stimulated while working on multiplying fractions. \u003ccite>(Valorie Salimpoor)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Salimpoor and her Cignition colleagues know full well that there are a lot of commercial games promising cognitive training that don’t deliver. There are also a lot of math games that are essentially procedural math disguised in a game form. The Fog Stone Island designers wanted to move away from both these models to develop a game that uses intrinsic and external rewards, offers multiple pathways to understand fractions, gives working memory support at the beginning of a task and slowly takes it away, and is situated within a context in which fractions would actually be used.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve tried to think of real life scenarios when you’d use math,” Salimpoor said. So, for example, in one corner of the immersive Fog Stone Island world, players use raw materials to build structures, a bit like \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/09/28/for-the-hesitant-teacher-leveraging-the-power-of-minecraft/\" target=\"_blank\">Minecraft\u003c/a>. The bricks have different lengths and the player must add like and unlike denominators to build a wall. Early in the concept the game provides a digital sketchbook -- essentially virtual working memory -- for students to use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Students can understand what they need to do in the situation without taxing their other cognitive abilities,” Salimpoor said. As they progress through the game they will gradually take over those working memory functions within the greater problem. Salimpoor finds it a little odd that she has ended up working on a videogame, but she wants good brain-based practices to be embedded in teaching and found that videogames were a far easier way to affect the many mental processes recruited when solving math problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/SWKyDy78OtI\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because Fog Stone Island is an immersive game, players can wander between the house building area, a farm plot and other zones that work on different elements of fractions. “The reason we wanted to keep it all in one game is it helps with investment,” Salimpoor said. Success in one area can lead to success in another area, and the different ways of working with fractions are integrated so students can develop a deep understanding of how the concepts are connected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salimpoor said the great thing about the game is that it adapts to the player’s level not just of math knowledge, but also working memory and executive functioning needs too. But Salimpoor is proud of how hard she and the designers worked to build those support skills into the game in a natural way that makes sense for the game. For example, rather than playing a silly side game that requires a player to repeat a sequence forward and then backwards -- a common working memory exercise -- Fog Stone Island may require a player to remember five items in the service of building part of his world. Now there’s an intrinsic motivation to build up working memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the video game we can do that so in depth,” Salimpoor said. “And really understand where each child is in each of these areas.” She says the latest iteration of the game is getting good reviews from students, who want to play even when it isn’t required for class. And very preliminary research results indicate that students are deepening their fractions knowledge outside of the game too, although those effects are still being studied.\u003c/p>\n\n",
"disqusIdentifier": "46865 http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=46865",
"disqusUrl": "https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/11/21/what-neuroscience-can-tell-us-about-making-fractions-stick/",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": true,
"hasChartOrMap": true,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1948,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [
"https://www.youtube.com/embed/SWKyDy78OtI"
],
"paragraphCount": 30
},
"modified": 1479734644,
"excerpt": "Students need a deep conceptual understanding of fractions to succeed in high school algebra. Maximizing learning with attention to brain science can help all students get there.",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Students need a deep conceptual understanding of fractions to succeed in high school algebra. Maximizing learning with attention to brain science can help all students get there.",
"title": "What Neuroscience Can Tell Us About Making Fractions Stick | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "What Neuroscience Can Tell Us About Making Fractions Stick",
"datePublished": "2016-11-21T05:18:31-08:00",
"dateModified": "2016-11-21T05:24:04-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "what-neuroscience-can-tell-us-about-making-fractions-stick",
"status": "publish",
"path": "/mindshift/46865/what-neuroscience-can-tell-us-about-making-fractions-stick",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Fractions are a notoriously tricky part of elementary math education for many children. Too often teachers struggle to ensure students are grasping the conceptual underpinnings of this complicated topic, resorting to “tricks” that will help them learn the procedures of adding or multiplying instead. This is particularly troubling because \u003ca href=\"http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/report/final-report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">studies have shown\u003c/a> that students’ knowledge of \u003ca href=\"http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~siegler/Siegler-etal-inpressPsySci.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">sixth grade fractions is a good predictor of their math achievement in high school\u003c/a>. This is largely because a deep understanding of fractions plays out in algebra.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If a student has a solid understanding of fractions and precisely what they represent, they’re likely to perform much better with algebra,” said Valorie Salimpoor, a researcher at the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto, during an \u003ca href=\"http://home.edweb.net/\" target=\"_blank\">edWeb\u003c/a> presentation on the neuroscience of fractions. She thinks educators have an opportunity to leverage what researchers know about brain science to ensure students learn fractions well, but also admits that learning math is cognitively taxing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_46867\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 957px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-46867\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math.png\" alt=\"The various regions of the brain recruited when learning fractions.\" width=\"957\" height=\"716\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math.png 957w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math-160x120.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math-800x599.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math-768x575.png 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math-240x180.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math-375x281.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/brain-on-math-520x389.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 957px) 100vw, 957px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The various regions of the brain recruited when learning fractions. \u003ccite>(Valorie Salimpoor)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Learning a new math concept takes a toll on the brain not only because of the new math concepts, but also because students must recruit many parts of the brain to solve any problem. For example, students need visuospatial and auditory working memory when solving a fractions problem, and they must focus attention, inhibit distractions, order tasks, recall information from long term memory and integrate new concepts into an old schema. There’s a lot of mental processing going on when learning math, so understanding how careful brain-based instruction can prime the brain for new learning becomes extra important.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>OPTIMIZE INFORMATION PROCESSING\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a person learns something new she forms a connection between two previously unconnected neurons. If that connection is weak, the new learning can easily be lost through forgetting. But the stronger the pathway and the more ways a person has learned the information, the more likely it will become encoded into long term memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To improve a student’s information processing around fractions neuroscience tells us teachers should both present information and give students ways to interact with it, in a variety of ways. For example, explaining how to add fractions only uses an auditory pathway. Showing fractions on a line graph or as a pie chart are two other ways of presenting the same information. Asking students to visualize parts of the whole and show fractions using manipulatives are two more ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every time you are visualizing this in a different way, you are recruiting different neurons and neural connections,” Salimpoor said. And she says active learning through problem solving or manipulation is a whole different ballpark neurally than passively listening, partly because even if a student looks like she is listening she still may not be paying attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In one case you are passively absorbing information and in the other case you have to initiate the motor sequences and carrying them through,” Salimpoor said. When students are actively learning they are using the frontal lobe to determine what needs to happen next and to organize the information, as well as the motor regions of the brain to carry it out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_46869\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 670px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-46869\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/gray-matter-over-time.png\" alt=\"In the first years of life babies are rapidly forming new connections between neurons, creating a dense network that represents deeply encoded learning.\" width=\"670\" height=\"486\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/gray-matter-over-time.png 670w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/gray-matter-over-time-160x116.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/gray-matter-over-time-240x174.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/gray-matter-over-time-375x272.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/gray-matter-over-time-520x377.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">In the first years of life babies are rapidly forming new connections between neurons, creating a dense network that represents deeply encoded learning. \u003ccite>(Source: Corel, JL. The postnatal development of the human cerebral cortex. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 1975.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The more areas we recruit, the more elaborate this network becomes,” Salimpoor said. That’s important because later when the student tries to recall the new information and pings one node in the network, the entire system is primed to help retrieve the information. It’s also important for students to continue recalling that information in order to strengthen the network, even if a concept was introduced in many ways initially. Ultimately for something to be learned well it needs to be integrated into the student’s general schema, which happens through practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>STRENGTHENING NEURAL NETWORKS\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Practicing a new concept is one way good way to strengthen a neural network, but if students only practice using one problem solving strategy, that practice is leading to memorizing, not deep conceptual knowledge. To strengthen the whole network and by doing so deepening understanding, they must practice using various ways of visualizing and solving the same problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s most important to create problems where students have to initiate and come up with their own solutions,” Salimpoor said. “This makes a big difference. You can never have too much of that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neurochemicals like dopamine can also create shortcuts to encoding information. The brain releases dopamine in response to novelty or when a person is anticipating something and doesn’t know what’s going to happen. When a student is \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/05/31/why-emotions-are-integral-to-learning/\" target=\"_blank\">emotionally invested\u003c/a> in the learning or finds it intrinsically motivating, dopamine is also present. And dopamine helps strengthen neural networks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salimpoor uses the dopamine trick whenever she wants her toddler son to learn something new. She knows he loves trains, so if she can fold whatever new information she wants him to learn within a train narrative she knows he will be paying attention, intrinsically motivated and releasing dopamine that will help hardwire the new concepts. Rewards can also be a way to get at dopamine, but Salimpoor warns external rewards are never going to be as powerful as getting students to personally care about the learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>GETTING AT CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the trickiest things about helping students develop a deep conceptual understanding of a topic like fractions is that each student is coming into the learning experience not only with different levels of math knowledge, but also with different levels of working memory, executive functioning skills, ability to pay attention, and all the other non-content skills related to learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One way a teacher can use brain science to help students get at the deeper concepts is to relieve the pressure on students working memories as they are learning the new information. Salimpoor says working memory is a big challenge for many children. “If you can’t hold all of this new information in your mind, you can’t really process it,” she said. And if the information isn’t getting processed, it isn’t getting integrated into the large schema a child holds in his head of how things work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While some students might be very skilled at working memory, the ones who aren’t as good really suffer because they can’t take in all that information and process it, so they just tune out,” Salimpoor said. Teachers can be aware of this and try to break concepts down into the cognitive elements, always being mindful of how many pieces of new information the children need to hold in their minds at the same time to solve a problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When possible teachers can give students supports, like visuals representing the fractions, to work with as they are introduced to a concept. When the student has the visual, he doesn’t have to hold the symbolic representation of the fraction in his working memory as he figure out how to add the two together. After the concept has been introduced, teachers can slowly remove those scaffolds. Writing information down is another way student can offload some of what would be stored in working memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Working memory is one challenge, but it is very hard for teachers to identify all the specific ways students differ from one another cognitively. This is where technology can help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salimpoor has helped design a videogame focused on adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing fractions -- the skills any student should have mastered by the end of sixth grade -- that puts all her neuroscience expertise for learning into the game mechanics. Called \u003ca href=\"http://fogstoneisle.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Fog Stone Island\u003c/a> and produced by \u003ca href=\"http://www.cignition.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Cignition\u003c/a>, the game is free and available online to teachers and students. Salimpoor said the game tracks the intangible information like working memory ability and executive functioning that a teacher would have a hard time identifying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_46870\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 952px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-46870\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island.png\" alt=\"A screen capture of Fog Stone Island juxtaposed with an image of the brain shows how multiple multiple brain regions are being stimulated while working on multiplying fractions.\" width=\"952\" height=\"540\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island.png 952w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island-160x91.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island-800x454.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island-768x436.png 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island-240x136.png 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island-375x213.png 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2016/11/fog-island-520x295.png 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 952px) 100vw, 952px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A screen capture of Fog Stone Island juxtaposed with an image of the brain shows how multiple multiple brain regions are being stimulated while working on multiplying fractions. \u003ccite>(Valorie Salimpoor)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Salimpoor and her Cignition colleagues know full well that there are a lot of commercial games promising cognitive training that don’t deliver. There are also a lot of math games that are essentially procedural math disguised in a game form. The Fog Stone Island designers wanted to move away from both these models to develop a game that uses intrinsic and external rewards, offers multiple pathways to understand fractions, gives working memory support at the beginning of a task and slowly takes it away, and is situated within a context in which fractions would actually be used.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve tried to think of real life scenarios when you’d use math,” Salimpoor said. So, for example, in one corner of the immersive Fog Stone Island world, players use raw materials to build structures, a bit like \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/09/28/for-the-hesitant-teacher-leveraging-the-power-of-minecraft/\" target=\"_blank\">Minecraft\u003c/a>. The bricks have different lengths and the player must add like and unlike denominators to build a wall. Early in the concept the game provides a digital sketchbook -- essentially virtual working memory -- for students to use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Students can understand what they need to do in the situation without taxing their other cognitive abilities,” Salimpoor said. As they progress through the game they will gradually take over those working memory functions within the greater problem. Salimpoor finds it a little odd that she has ended up working on a videogame, but she wants good brain-based practices to be embedded in teaching and found that videogames were a far easier way to affect the many mental processes recruited when solving math problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/SWKyDy78OtI\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Because Fog Stone Island is an immersive game, players can wander between the house building area, a farm plot and other zones that work on different elements of fractions. “The reason we wanted to keep it all in one game is it helps with investment,” Salimpoor said. Success in one area can lead to success in another area, and the different ways of working with fractions are integrated so students can develop a deep understanding of how the concepts are connected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Salimpoor said the great thing about the game is that it adapts to the player’s level not just of math knowledge, but also working memory and executive functioning needs too. But Salimpoor is proud of how hard she and the designers worked to build those support skills into the game in a natural way that makes sense for the game. For example, rather than playing a silly side game that requires a player to repeat a sequence forward and then backwards -- a common working memory exercise -- Fog Stone Island may require a player to remember five items in the service of building part of his world. Now there’s an intrinsic motivation to build up working memory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the video game we can do that so in depth,” Salimpoor said. “And really understand where each child is in each of these areas.” She says the latest iteration of the game is getting good reviews from students, who want to play even when it isn’t required for class. And very preliminary research results indicate that students are deepening their fractions knowledge outside of the game too, although those effects are still being studied.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/mindshift/46865/what-neuroscience-can-tell-us-about-making-fractions-stick",
"authors": [
"234"
],
"categories": [
"mindshift_193"
],
"tags": [
"mindshift_767",
"mindshift_20784",
"mindshift_21001",
"mindshift_1040",
"mindshift_392",
"mindshift_46",
"mindshift_20713"
],
"featImg": "mindshift_47021",
"label": "mindshift"
},
"mindshift_46640": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "mindshift_46640",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "46640",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1475844051000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "mindshift"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1475844051,
"format": "standard",
"disqusTitle": "How Teens' Penchant For Risk-Taking May Help Them Learn Faster",
"title": "How Teens' Penchant For Risk-Taking May Help Them Learn Faster",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>The teenage brain has been characterized as a risk-taking machine, looking for quick rewards and thrills instead of acting responsibly. But these behaviors could actually make teens better than adults at certain kinds of learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"In neuroscience, we tend to think that if healthy brains act in a certain way, there should be a reason for it,\" says Juliet Davidow, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University in the \u003ca href=\"http://andl.wjh.harvard.edu/research\">Affective Neuroscience and Development Lab\u003c/a> and the lead author of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(16)30524-4\">study\u003c/a>, which was published Wednesday in the journal \u003cem>Neuron\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But scientists and the public often focus on the negatives of teen behavior, so she and her colleagues set out to test the hypothesis that teenagers' drive for rewards, and the risk-taking that comes from it, exist for a reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to what drives reward-seeking in teens, fingers have always been pointed at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.jneurosci.org/content/27/31/8161.full\">striatum\u003c/a>, a lobster-claw-shape structure in the brain. When something surprising and good happens — say, you find $20 on the street — your body produces the pleasure-related hormone dopamine, and the striatum responds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Research shows that the teenage striatum is very active,\" says Davidow. This suggests that teens are hard-wired to seek immediate rewards. But, she adds, it's also \u003ca href=\"http://www.pnas.org/content/101/21/8174.long\">shown \u003c/a>that their prefrontal cortex, which helps with impulse control, isn't fully developed. Combined, these two things have given teens their risky rep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the striatum isn't just involved in reward-seeking. It's also involved in learning from rewards, explains \u003ca href=\"http://shohamylab.psych.columbia.edu/index.php\">Daphna Shohamy\u003c/a>, a cognitive neuroscientist at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University who worked on the study. She wanted to see if teenagers would be better at this type of learning than adults would.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To test this, Shohamy and her colleagues used an fMRI scanner to watch brain activity in a group of adults and teenagers. They were looking at the striatum, but also in a different part of the brain called the hippocampus. The hippocampus (which looks like, and is named after, a seahorse) helps people remember things like dates and times: the who, what, when and where.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Think back to the last time something really great and surprising happened,\" says Shohamy, \"You might remember a lot of little irrelevant details, like the weather or the shirt you were wearing. That's your episodic memory.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the adults and teens had their brains scanned, they played a game that rewarded players for guessing correctly. Between questions, participants saw random pictures of neutral objects. As expected, the reward-hungry teenagers figured out the game faster than the adults did. Surprisingly, the striatum was equally active in both teenagers and adults. But in teens, it also worked closely with their hippocampus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To see if this cooperation changed how the teens learned, the adults and adolescents were given a memory test. They had to recall the random pictures that had flashed on the screen as they played the game.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, teenagers and adults were equally good at remembering the pictures. But they were good in different ways. When the picture was associated with getting something right in the learning test, adolescents were more likely to remember it than adults were.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adolescence is a time of growing, Shohamy says, when teenagers transition from dependence to independence. She thinks that being sensitive to rewards could help youth explore and leave the safety of their home, to try new things and learn from them. Having a sharp episodic memory could help with that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Too many people describe the teen brain like it's a defective car with no steering wheel or brakes, just an accelerator,\" says \u003ca href=\"http://psychology.yale.edu/people/bj-casey\">BJ Casey\u003c/a>, a cognitive neuroscientist and professor of psychology at Yale who was not involved in the study. \"What we need to understand in terms of the adolescent brain is that while there are circumstances get them into trouble, there are also ones in which they excel. This study shows that not only do teens have cognitive capabilities, they're even better in some situations!\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Casey likes how this study treats the teenage hunger for new, positive experiences as normal, not deviant. But it doesn't explain everything about how teenagers learn, not by a long shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's just one snapshot in time, and it's only one study,\" says Shohamy. To draw further conclusions, first they'd have to replicate their findings. Then, Shohamy would like to know if the hippocampus and striatum cooperate in other age groups, too. She wants to follow children as they grow up and find out when these two brain regions start talking to each other, and when they stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This field of research is still in its adolescence,\" Shohamy adds. In other words, it's got a lot of growing to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Teens%27+Penchant+For+Risk-Taking+May+Help+Them+Learn+Faster&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
"disqusIdentifier": "46640 http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=46640",
"disqusUrl": "https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/10/07/how-teens-penchant-for-risk-taking-may-help-them-learn-faster/",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 811,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 18
},
"modified": 1475844110,
"excerpt": "The impulsivity and risk-taking that are common among teenagers may be a side effect of having a brain tuned to learn a lot of new stuff fast, researchers say. So it could be good in the long run.",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "The impulsivity and risk-taking that are common among teenagers may be a side effect of having a brain tuned to learn a lot of new stuff fast, researchers say. So it could be good in the long run.",
"title": "How Teens' Penchant For Risk-Taking May Help Them Learn Faster | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "How Teens' Penchant For Risk-Taking May Help Them Learn Faster",
"datePublished": "2016-10-07T05:40:51-07:00",
"dateModified": "2016-10-07T05:41:50-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "how-teens-penchant-for-risk-taking-may-help-them-learn-faster",
"status": "publish",
"nprApiLink": "http://api.npr.org/query?id=496793162&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004",
"nprByline": "Erin Ross",
"nprStoryDate": "Thu, 06 Oct 2016 15:08:00 -0400",
"nprLastModifiedDate": "Thu, 06 Oct 2016 17:25:35 -0400",
"nprHtmlLink": "http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/10/06/496793162/teens-penchant-for-risk-taking-may-help-them-learn-faster?ft=nprml&f=496793162",
"nprImageAgency": "Getty Images",
"nprImageCredit": "Luciano Lozano",
"nprStoryId": "496793162",
"nprRetrievedStory": "1",
"nprPubDate": "Thu, 06 Oct 2016 17:25:00 -0400",
"path": "/mindshift/46640/how-teens-penchant-for-risk-taking-may-help-them-learn-faster",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The teenage brain has been characterized as a risk-taking machine, looking for quick rewards and thrills instead of acting responsibly. But these behaviors could actually make teens better than adults at certain kinds of learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"In neuroscience, we tend to think that if healthy brains act in a certain way, there should be a reason for it,\" says Juliet Davidow, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University in the \u003ca href=\"http://andl.wjh.harvard.edu/research\">Affective Neuroscience and Development Lab\u003c/a> and the lead author of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(16)30524-4\">study\u003c/a>, which was published Wednesday in the journal \u003cem>Neuron\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But scientists and the public often focus on the negatives of teen behavior, so she and her colleagues set out to test the hypothesis that teenagers' drive for rewards, and the risk-taking that comes from it, exist for a reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to what drives reward-seeking in teens, fingers have always been pointed at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.jneurosci.org/content/27/31/8161.full\">striatum\u003c/a>, a lobster-claw-shape structure in the brain. When something surprising and good happens — say, you find $20 on the street — your body produces the pleasure-related hormone dopamine, and the striatum responds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Research shows that the teenage striatum is very active,\" says Davidow. This suggests that teens are hard-wired to seek immediate rewards. But, she adds, it's also \u003ca href=\"http://www.pnas.org/content/101/21/8174.long\">shown \u003c/a>that their prefrontal cortex, which helps with impulse control, isn't fully developed. Combined, these two things have given teens their risky rep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the striatum isn't just involved in reward-seeking. It's also involved in learning from rewards, explains \u003ca href=\"http://shohamylab.psych.columbia.edu/index.php\">Daphna Shohamy\u003c/a>, a cognitive neuroscientist at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University who worked on the study. She wanted to see if teenagers would be better at this type of learning than adults would.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To test this, Shohamy and her colleagues used an fMRI scanner to watch brain activity in a group of adults and teenagers. They were looking at the striatum, but also in a different part of the brain called the hippocampus. The hippocampus (which looks like, and is named after, a seahorse) helps people remember things like dates and times: the who, what, when and where.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Think back to the last time something really great and surprising happened,\" says Shohamy, \"You might remember a lot of little irrelevant details, like the weather or the shirt you were wearing. That's your episodic memory.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the adults and teens had their brains scanned, they played a game that rewarded players for guessing correctly. Between questions, participants saw random pictures of neutral objects. As expected, the reward-hungry teenagers figured out the game faster than the adults did. Surprisingly, the striatum was equally active in both teenagers and adults. But in teens, it also worked closely with their hippocampus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To see if this cooperation changed how the teens learned, the adults and adolescents were given a memory test. They had to recall the random pictures that had flashed on the screen as they played the game.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, teenagers and adults were equally good at remembering the pictures. But they were good in different ways. When the picture was associated with getting something right in the learning test, adolescents were more likely to remember it than adults were.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adolescence is a time of growing, Shohamy says, when teenagers transition from dependence to independence. She thinks that being sensitive to rewards could help youth explore and leave the safety of their home, to try new things and learn from them. Having a sharp episodic memory could help with that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Too many people describe the teen brain like it's a defective car with no steering wheel or brakes, just an accelerator,\" says \u003ca href=\"http://psychology.yale.edu/people/bj-casey\">BJ Casey\u003c/a>, a cognitive neuroscientist and professor of psychology at Yale who was not involved in the study. \"What we need to understand in terms of the adolescent brain is that while there are circumstances get them into trouble, there are also ones in which they excel. This study shows that not only do teens have cognitive capabilities, they're even better in some situations!\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Casey likes how this study treats the teenage hunger for new, positive experiences as normal, not deviant. But it doesn't explain everything about how teenagers learn, not by a long shot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's just one snapshot in time, and it's only one study,\" says Shohamy. To draw further conclusions, first they'd have to replicate their findings. Then, Shohamy would like to know if the hippocampus and striatum cooperate in other age groups, too. She wants to follow children as they grow up and find out when these two brain regions start talking to each other, and when they stop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This field of research is still in its adolescence,\" Shohamy adds. In other words, it's got a lot of growing to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Teens%27+Penchant+For+Risk-Taking+May+Help+Them+Learn+Faster&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/mindshift/46640/how-teens-penchant-for-risk-taking-may-help-them-learn-faster",
"authors": [
"byline_mindshift_46640"
],
"categories": [
"mindshift_192",
"mindshift_20874"
],
"tags": [
"mindshift_20784",
"mindshift_1040",
"mindshift_46",
"mindshift_21039"
],
"featImg": "mindshift_46641",
"label": "mindshift"
},
"mindshift_45201": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "mindshift_45201",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "45201",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1464683243000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "mindshift"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1464683243,
"format": "standard",
"disqusTitle": "Why Emotions Are Integral to Learning",
"title": "Why Emotions Are Integral to Learning",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cem>Excerpted from \u003ca href=\"http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=4294985311\">Emotions, Learning, and the Brain\u003c/a>, (c) 2016 by Mary Helen Immordino-Yang. Used with the permission of the publisher, W. W. Norton & Co.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cstrong>By Mary Helen Immordino-Yang\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">T\u003c/span>eachers intuitively know that neither their nor their students’ learning is steady and constant, the same day in and day out and moment to moment, consistent from topic to topic. Rather, we all have good and bad days; moments of excitement, engagement, and inspiration and moments of disappointment, disengagement, and frustration; afternoons just before vacation and mornings just after; some skills and topics that we find interesting and some that we don’t. These differences influence how children learn and how teachers teach; they even affect what students know at a given time. In short, learning is dynamic, social, and context dependent because emotions are, and emotions form a critical piece of how, what, when, and why people think, remember, and learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The fundamental role of emotions in learning first became apparent to me during my first professional position after college, as a junior high school science teacher in a highly diverse, urban public school near Boston. The community I lived and worked in had many first-generation Americans, 81 languages total spoken in our school of 1,800, and many students living in underprivileged circumstances. Although I was teaching integrated science, a technical academic subject, I was intrigued that my students’ questions and explanations seemed connected to their friendships, home situations, aesthetic tastes, and cultural values. I was fascinated but unprepared, for example, when the race relations among my seventh graders changed (and improved) dramatically after I taught a unit on hominid evolution that I designed with my former undergraduate professor. The students’ new scientific understanding of natural selection for adaptive traits like dark or light skin seemed to powerfully influence their peer relationships and their own ethnic identities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Why had the students interpreted the science in such a personal, emotional way? And why, after the classroom turbulence had settled, did so many of my students suddenly seem to take a new interest in science? I brought these questions with me to graduate school, and through my research I still seek satisfying and complete answers to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ca href=\"http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=4294985311\">\u003cimg class=\"alignleft wp-image-45304\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-Learning-and-the-Brain-400x604.jpg\" alt=\"Emotions Learning and the Brain\" width=\"250\" height=\"377\">\u003c/a>Scientific understanding of the influence of emotions on thinking and learning has undergone a major transformation in recent years. In particular, a revolution in neuroscience over the past two decades has overturned early notions that emotions interfere with learning, revealing instead that emotion and cognition are supported by interdependent neural processes. It is literally neurobiologically impossible to build memories, engage complex thoughts, or make meaningful decisions without emotion. And after all, this makes sense: the brain is highly metabolically expensive tissue, and evolution would not support wasting energy and oxygen thinking about things that don’t matter to us. Put succinctly, we only think about things we care about. No wonder my seventh graders had taken that science lesson so personally and so seriously. They had found that science could help them make personally relevant meaning of the racial and ethnic diversity and identity issues they encountered in their daily lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">This insight—that we only think deeply about things we care about—has important implications for education and pedagogy. It opens questions about how, when, and why students learn meaningfully (or just regurgitate facts and deploy procedures and algorithms, or possibly don’t manage even those).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">It also raises issues about how technology, culture, and social relationships shape learning and how teachers can understand and leverage emotions more productively in the classroom. It suggests that, for school-based learning to have a hope of motivating students, of producing deep understanding, or of transferring into real-world skills—all hallmarks of meaningful learning, and all essential to producing informed, skilled, ethical, and reflective adults—we need to find ways to leverage the emotional aspects of learning in education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">To leverage emotions, it helps to understand what emotions are. Emotions, and the more biologically primitive drives that undergird them, such as hunger and sex, are action programs that have evolved as extensions of survival mechanisms. Put simply, emotions have evolved to keep us alive. Human beings have basic emotions, such as fear and disgust, to keep us off the edges of cliffs and to make us avoid spoiled food. We have social emotions such as love to make us affiliate, procreate, and care for our children. Thanks to our intelligent, plastic brain, we can also develop emotions that color and steer our intellectual and social endeavors, such as curiosity to make us explore and discover, admiration to make us emulate the virtue of others, and compassion, indignation, interest, and “flow” (Csíkszentmihályi, 1990).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">These complex intellectual and social emotions are the subjective behavioral and mental reactions we have to situations and concepts of all sorts— reactions that play out in the body (e.g., through a racing heart) and in the mind through characteristic ways of thinking (e.g., searching for an escape route during fear, moving to help another person during compassion, or narrowing our attentional focus when we find something interesting). The feeling of these emotions organizes our sociality and morality, making us emulate role models, help those in need, or punish those who warrant it. It forms the basis for creativity and invention and for the decisions we make for now and for the future, even in academic contexts. For example, the act of dedicating one’s professional life to teaching is possible only because of our ability to feel these emotions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">So, emotions evolved and are present in all complex creatures because they are essential to managing life. In humans, efficient life management means managing not just our physical survival but our social life and intellectual life. (These ideas derive from my work with Antonio Damasio; for seminal reading, see Damasio [1999] and Damasio and Carvalho [2013].) But where does the neurobiology come in? Among the most poignant and basic insights from affective neuroscience, the neuroscience of emotion, is that the emotions that regulate our sociocultural and intellectual lives appear to have co-opted the same neural systems that manage our survival in the basic biological sense. Just as poets and artists have suspected for millennia, we feel social relationships and appreciate intellectual achievements using the same brain systems that sense and regulate our guts and viscera, adjust our blood chemistry and hormones, and conjure our awareness and consciousness. No wonder our creations, reputations, cultural ideals, and personal relationships, including those in educational contexts, have such amazing psychological power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-teachers-share-mindshift/id1078765985\">\u003cimg class=\"alignright wp-image-45053 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/Podcast-Square-e1463002696628.jpg\" alt=\"Podcast-Square\" width=\"250\" height=\"227\">\u003c/a>But emotions have another dimension that is critically relevant to education. Complex emotional feelings, such as interest, inspiration, indignation, and compassion, are active mental constructions—they pertain not to the real physical context (the immediate context that we can see) but to abstract inferences, interpretations, and ideas. They pertain, in other words, to what we think we know about the world at the current time, interpreted in light of our past experiences and our imagined possible futures, using our available skills. When I say that many emotions are “complex,” what I really mean is that they rely on subjective, cognitive interpretations of situations and their accompanying embodied reactions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Even in academic subjects that are traditionally considered unemotional, such as physics, engineering, or math, deep understanding depends on making emotional connections between concepts. For example, one study using functional magnetic resonance imaging found that when mathematicians see equations that they judge to be “beautiful” and elegantly formulated instead of “ugly” and awkwardly formulated, they activate the same sensory, emotional brain region that activates during experiences of perceptual beauty, such as when admiring a painting (Zeki, Romaya, Benincasa, & Atiyah, 2014). In the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, we have found that this region also activates during experiences of moral beauty, such as those associated with feelings of admiration and compassion (Immordino-Yang, McColl, Damasio, & Damasio, 2009; see Chapter 9 for a description of this experiment). This and other evidence suggests that meaningful learning is actually about helping students to connect their isolated algorithmic skills to abstract, intrinsically emotional, subjective and meaningful experiences. Though supporting students in building these connections is a very hard job, it appears to be essential for the development of truly useful, transferable, intrinsically motivated learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In addition, emotions, like cognition, develop with maturity and experience. In this sense, emotions are skills—organized patterns of thoughts and behaviors that we actively construct in the moment and across our life spans to adaptively accommodate to various kinds of circumstances, including academic demands. (These ideas derive from my work with Kurt Fischer; for seminal reading, see Fischer and Bidell [2006].) The emotions of a preschooler are not the same as those of a fifth grader, a teenager, or a young or an older adult. The emotions of a brand new teacher are not the same as those of a veteran teacher. And even two people in the same developmental stage could construct different reactions to the same situation, sometimes substantially so. Why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_45305\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 250px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-45305\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Mary-Helen-Immordino-Yang_Credit-Steve-Cohn-Photography.jpg\" alt=\"Mary Helen Immordino-Yang\" width=\"250\" height=\"321\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mary Helen Immordino-Yang \u003ccite>(Steve Cohn Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The reasons follow from emotion’s survival-related roots and tie to emotion’s centrality in learning. First, emotions involve automatic mental and bodily reactions to situations, and some people, cultural groups, and age groups are more reactive, or differently reactive, than others. For example, some individuals jump when startled, while others remain much calmer. These tendencies can also be influenced by culture; for instance, in many Asian cultures individuals strive to suppress their outward emotional displays, whereas in many Latino and Mediterranean cultures emotional expressiveness is valued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">These differing ideals for emotion influence individuals’ emotional behavior, including expression or suppression. In turn, our work suggests that by changing the magnitude of bodily reactions, cultural and individual differences in emotional expressiveness may affect what emotions “feel like”—how individuals know how they feel, or the subjective embodied quality of their feelings (Immordino-Yang, Yang, & Damasio, 2014).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Second, people learn through experience how to interpret situations, as well as how to make sense of their emotional reactions. Students’ and teachers’ emotion-laden interpretations and inferences, though often implicit or subconscious, form a central dimension of how they learn. The subjective inferences that individuals make, and their experiences of problem solving within an academic domain, imbue their memories and knowledge with emotional relevance. In the case described above, it was the mathematicians’ subjective experience of thinking and solving problems within the mathematical domain that enabled them to appreciate certain equations as “beautiful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Their emotional reactions were possible only with an advanced level of technical expertise. As we can see, understanding the role of emotions in learning goes far beyond recognizing the emotion a student is having about a situation in order to design learning environments that strategically manipulate students’ reactions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">For instance, giving candy to make children want to come to math class will not make students feel the joy of mathematical thinking. Instead, understanding emotions is also (and perhaps even more critically) about the meaning that students are making—that is, the ways in which students and teachers are experiencing or feeling their emotional reactions and how their feelings steer their thoughts and behavior, consciously or not. Emotions are not add-ons that are distinct from cognitive skills. Instead emotions, such as interest, anxiety, frustration, excitement, or a sense of awe in beholding beauty, become a dimension of the skill itself. This is one reason that anxiety can be so debilitating to students’ performance, that interest can precipitate a lifetime commitment to studying a topic, that kids have such trouble applying themselves when they don’t know why they would ever use a skill outside of class, and that offering kids candy will make them like coming to class but will not help them learn to appreciate mathematical thinking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://rossier.usc.edu/faculty-and-research/directories/a-z/profile/?id=47\">Mary Helen Immordino-Yang\u003c/a> is a professor at the University of Southern California. This excerpt is from \u003ca href=\"http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=4294985311\">Emotions, Learning, and the Brain: Exploring the Educational Implications of Affective Neuroscience\u003c/a>, by Mary Helen Immordino-Yang. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/Podcast-Square-e1463002696628.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1078765985\">Subscribe in iTunes\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Don't miss an episode of \u003cem>Stories Teachers Share\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also available via \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/category/stories-teachers-share/feed/\">RSS\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
"disqusIdentifier": "45201 http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=45201",
"disqusUrl": "https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/05/31/why-emotions-are-integral-to-learning/",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 2231,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 5
},
"modified": 1464986650,
"excerpt": "Understanding how deeply connected emotions are to learning can help reframe the conversation around what works in schools. ",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Understanding how deeply connected emotions are to learning can help reframe the conversation around what works in schools. ",
"title": "Why Emotions Are Integral to Learning | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Why Emotions Are Integral to Learning",
"datePublished": "2016-05-31T01:27:23-07:00",
"dateModified": "2016-06-03T13:44:10-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "why-emotions-are-integral-to-learning",
"status": "publish",
"path": "/mindshift/45201/why-emotions-are-integral-to-learning",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cem>Excerpted from \u003ca href=\"http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=4294985311\">Emotions, Learning, and the Brain\u003c/a>, (c) 2016 by Mary Helen Immordino-Yang. Used with the permission of the publisher, W. W. Norton & Co.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cstrong>By Mary Helen Immordino-Yang\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cspan class=\"s1\">T\u003c/span>eachers intuitively know that neither their nor their students’ learning is steady and constant, the same day in and day out and moment to moment, consistent from topic to topic. Rather, we all have good and bad days; moments of excitement, engagement, and inspiration and moments of disappointment, disengagement, and frustration; afternoons just before vacation and mornings just after; some skills and topics that we find interesting and some that we don’t. These differences influence how children learn and how teachers teach; they even affect what students know at a given time. In short, learning is dynamic, social, and context dependent because emotions are, and emotions form a critical piece of how, what, when, and why people think, remember, and learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The fundamental role of emotions in learning first became apparent to me during my first professional position after college, as a junior high school science teacher in a highly diverse, urban public school near Boston. The community I lived and worked in had many first-generation Americans, 81 languages total spoken in our school of 1,800, and many students living in underprivileged circumstances. Although I was teaching integrated science, a technical academic subject, I was intrigued that my students’ questions and explanations seemed connected to their friendships, home situations, aesthetic tastes, and cultural values. I was fascinated but unprepared, for example, when the race relations among my seventh graders changed (and improved) dramatically after I taught a unit on hominid evolution that I designed with my former undergraduate professor. The students’ new scientific understanding of natural selection for adaptive traits like dark or light skin seemed to powerfully influence their peer relationships and their own ethnic identities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Why had the students interpreted the science in such a personal, emotional way? And why, after the classroom turbulence had settled, did so many of my students suddenly seem to take a new interest in science? I brought these questions with me to graduate school, and through my research I still seek satisfying and complete answers to them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ca href=\"http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=4294985311\">\u003cimg class=\"alignleft wp-image-45304\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Emotions-Learning-and-the-Brain-400x604.jpg\" alt=\"Emotions Learning and the Brain\" width=\"250\" height=\"377\">\u003c/a>Scientific understanding of the influence of emotions on thinking and learning has undergone a major transformation in recent years. In particular, a revolution in neuroscience over the past two decades has overturned early notions that emotions interfere with learning, revealing instead that emotion and cognition are supported by interdependent neural processes. It is literally neurobiologically impossible to build memories, engage complex thoughts, or make meaningful decisions without emotion. And after all, this makes sense: the brain is highly metabolically expensive tissue, and evolution would not support wasting energy and oxygen thinking about things that don’t matter to us. Put succinctly, we only think about things we care about. No wonder my seventh graders had taken that science lesson so personally and so seriously. They had found that science could help them make personally relevant meaning of the racial and ethnic diversity and identity issues they encountered in their daily lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">This insight—that we only think deeply about things we care about—has important implications for education and pedagogy. It opens questions about how, when, and why students learn meaningfully (or just regurgitate facts and deploy procedures and algorithms, or possibly don’t manage even those).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">It also raises issues about how technology, culture, and social relationships shape learning and how teachers can understand and leverage emotions more productively in the classroom. It suggests that, for school-based learning to have a hope of motivating students, of producing deep understanding, or of transferring into real-world skills—all hallmarks of meaningful learning, and all essential to producing informed, skilled, ethical, and reflective adults—we need to find ways to leverage the emotional aspects of learning in education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">To leverage emotions, it helps to understand what emotions are. Emotions, and the more biologically primitive drives that undergird them, such as hunger and sex, are action programs that have evolved as extensions of survival mechanisms. Put simply, emotions have evolved to keep us alive. Human beings have basic emotions, such as fear and disgust, to keep us off the edges of cliffs and to make us avoid spoiled food. We have social emotions such as love to make us affiliate, procreate, and care for our children. Thanks to our intelligent, plastic brain, we can also develop emotions that color and steer our intellectual and social endeavors, such as curiosity to make us explore and discover, admiration to make us emulate the virtue of others, and compassion, indignation, interest, and “flow” (Csíkszentmihályi, 1990).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">These complex intellectual and social emotions are the subjective behavioral and mental reactions we have to situations and concepts of all sorts— reactions that play out in the body (e.g., through a racing heart) and in the mind through characteristic ways of thinking (e.g., searching for an escape route during fear, moving to help another person during compassion, or narrowing our attentional focus when we find something interesting). The feeling of these emotions organizes our sociality and morality, making us emulate role models, help those in need, or punish those who warrant it. It forms the basis for creativity and invention and for the decisions we make for now and for the future, even in academic contexts. For example, the act of dedicating one’s professional life to teaching is possible only because of our ability to feel these emotions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">So, emotions evolved and are present in all complex creatures because they are essential to managing life. In humans, efficient life management means managing not just our physical survival but our social life and intellectual life. (These ideas derive from my work with Antonio Damasio; for seminal reading, see Damasio [1999] and Damasio and Carvalho [2013].) But where does the neurobiology come in? Among the most poignant and basic insights from affective neuroscience, the neuroscience of emotion, is that the emotions that regulate our sociocultural and intellectual lives appear to have co-opted the same neural systems that manage our survival in the basic biological sense. Just as poets and artists have suspected for millennia, we feel social relationships and appreciate intellectual achievements using the same brain systems that sense and regulate our guts and viscera, adjust our blood chemistry and hormones, and conjure our awareness and consciousness. No wonder our creations, reputations, cultural ideals, and personal relationships, including those in educational contexts, have such amazing psychological power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-teachers-share-mindshift/id1078765985\">\u003cimg class=\"alignright wp-image-45053 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/Podcast-Square-e1463002696628.jpg\" alt=\"Podcast-Square\" width=\"250\" height=\"227\">\u003c/a>But emotions have another dimension that is critically relevant to education. Complex emotional feelings, such as interest, inspiration, indignation, and compassion, are active mental constructions—they pertain not to the real physical context (the immediate context that we can see) but to abstract inferences, interpretations, and ideas. They pertain, in other words, to what we think we know about the world at the current time, interpreted in light of our past experiences and our imagined possible futures, using our available skills. When I say that many emotions are “complex,” what I really mean is that they rely on subjective, cognitive interpretations of situations and their accompanying embodied reactions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Even in academic subjects that are traditionally considered unemotional, such as physics, engineering, or math, deep understanding depends on making emotional connections between concepts. For example, one study using functional magnetic resonance imaging found that when mathematicians see equations that they judge to be “beautiful” and elegantly formulated instead of “ugly” and awkwardly formulated, they activate the same sensory, emotional brain region that activates during experiences of perceptual beauty, such as when admiring a painting (Zeki, Romaya, Benincasa, & Atiyah, 2014). In the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, we have found that this region also activates during experiences of moral beauty, such as those associated with feelings of admiration and compassion (Immordino-Yang, McColl, Damasio, & Damasio, 2009; see Chapter 9 for a description of this experiment). This and other evidence suggests that meaningful learning is actually about helping students to connect their isolated algorithmic skills to abstract, intrinsically emotional, subjective and meaningful experiences. Though supporting students in building these connections is a very hard job, it appears to be essential for the development of truly useful, transferable, intrinsically motivated learning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In addition, emotions, like cognition, develop with maturity and experience. In this sense, emotions are skills—organized patterns of thoughts and behaviors that we actively construct in the moment and across our life spans to adaptively accommodate to various kinds of circumstances, including academic demands. (These ideas derive from my work with Kurt Fischer; for seminal reading, see Fischer and Bidell [2006].) The emotions of a preschooler are not the same as those of a fifth grader, a teenager, or a young or an older adult. The emotions of a brand new teacher are not the same as those of a veteran teacher. And even two people in the same developmental stage could construct different reactions to the same situation, sometimes substantially so. Why?\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_45305\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 250px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-45305\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/05/Mary-Helen-Immordino-Yang_Credit-Steve-Cohn-Photography.jpg\" alt=\"Mary Helen Immordino-Yang\" width=\"250\" height=\"321\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mary Helen Immordino-Yang \u003ccite>(Steve Cohn Photography)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">The reasons follow from emotion’s survival-related roots and tie to emotion’s centrality in learning. First, emotions involve automatic mental and bodily reactions to situations, and some people, cultural groups, and age groups are more reactive, or differently reactive, than others. For example, some individuals jump when startled, while others remain much calmer. These tendencies can also be influenced by culture; for instance, in many Asian cultures individuals strive to suppress their outward emotional displays, whereas in many Latino and Mediterranean cultures emotional expressiveness is valued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">These differing ideals for emotion influence individuals’ emotional behavior, including expression or suppression. In turn, our work suggests that by changing the magnitude of bodily reactions, cultural and individual differences in emotional expressiveness may affect what emotions “feel like”—how individuals know how they feel, or the subjective embodied quality of their feelings (Immordino-Yang, Yang, & Damasio, 2014).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Second, people learn through experience how to interpret situations, as well as how to make sense of their emotional reactions. Students’ and teachers’ emotion-laden interpretations and inferences, though often implicit or subconscious, form a central dimension of how they learn. The subjective inferences that individuals make, and their experiences of problem solving within an academic domain, imbue their memories and knowledge with emotional relevance. In the case described above, it was the mathematicians’ subjective experience of thinking and solving problems within the mathematical domain that enabled them to appreciate certain equations as “beautiful.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Their emotional reactions were possible only with an advanced level of technical expertise. As we can see, understanding the role of emotions in learning goes far beyond recognizing the emotion a student is having about a situation in order to design learning environments that strategically manipulate students’ reactions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">For instance, giving candy to make children want to come to math class will not make students feel the joy of mathematical thinking. Instead, understanding emotions is also (and perhaps even more critically) about the meaning that students are making—that is, the ways in which students and teachers are experiencing or feeling their emotional reactions and how their feelings steer their thoughts and behavior, consciously or not. Emotions are not add-ons that are distinct from cognitive skills. Instead emotions, such as interest, anxiety, frustration, excitement, or a sense of awe in beholding beauty, become a dimension of the skill itself. This is one reason that anxiety can be so debilitating to students’ performance, that interest can precipitate a lifetime commitment to studying a topic, that kids have such trouble applying themselves when they don’t know why they would ever use a skill outside of class, and that offering kids candy will make them like coming to class but will not help them learn to appreciate mathematical thinking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://rossier.usc.edu/faculty-and-research/directories/a-z/profile/?id=47\">Mary Helen Immordino-Yang\u003c/a> is a professor at the University of Southern California. This excerpt is from \u003ca href=\"http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=4294985311\">Emotions, Learning, and the Brain: Exploring the Educational Implications of Affective Neuroscience\u003c/a>, by Mary Helen Immordino-Yang. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/Podcast-Square-e1463002696628.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1078765985\">Subscribe in iTunes\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Don't miss an episode of \u003cem>Stories Teachers Share\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also available via \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/category/stories-teachers-share/feed/\">RSS\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/mindshift/45201/why-emotions-are-integral-to-learning",
"authors": [
"4354"
],
"categories": [
"mindshift_20827"
],
"tags": [
"mindshift_20784",
"mindshift_1040",
"mindshift_46",
"mindshift_943"
],
"featImg": "mindshift_45311",
"label": "mindshift"
},
"mindshift_44561": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "mindshift_44561",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "44561",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1460440636000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "mindshift"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1460440636,
"format": "standard",
"disqusTitle": "Rethinking Intelligence: How Does Imagination Measure Up?",
"title": "Rethinking Intelligence: How Does Imagination Measure Up?",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman’s personal education story may sound familiar to many families struggling against a system that doesn’t tend to value qualities in students that make them different from a predetermined “\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/03/28/what-do-we-lose-by-measuring-average-in-education/\" target=\"_blank\">average\u003c/a>” learner. When he was young, Kaufman had \u003ca href=\"http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/central-auditory.html\" target=\"_blank\">central auditory processing disorder\u003c/a>, which made it hard for him to process verbal information in real time. He was asked to repeat third grade because he was considered a “slow” learner. That started him down a path of special education classes until high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I felt on the one hand that I was capable of more intellectual challenges,” Kaufman told an audience at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/visit-us/programs-and-events/creativity-forum/\" target=\"_blank\">Creativity Forum \u003c/a>hosted by the \u003ca href=\"http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/\">Bay Area Discovery Museum\u003c/a>, “but on the other hand I thought, ‘Who am I to question authority?’ ” So he didn’t, and since school wasn’t challenging him, Kaufman spent a lot of time in his own internal world, \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/06/01/why-daydreaming-isnt-a-waste-of-time/\" target=\"_blank\">daydreaming\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the school system no one sees your inner stream of consciousness, your imagination. They only see how slow you are,” Kaufman said. That would have been true for Kaufman throughout school, except one perceptive teacher recognized his simmering frustration and was willing to look past his long history in special education classes. She gave him an untimed test, which ultimately showed he was likely capable of participating in general education classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">One of the most powerful wellsprings of creative energy, outstanding accomplishment, and self-fulfillment seems to be falling in love with something — your dream, your image of the future. \u003ccite>\u003ca href=\"http://scottbarrykaufman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Torrance-falling-in-love-with-something.pdf\">E. Paul Torrance\u003c/a>\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“No one had ever tried to break out of special ed before at my high school,” Kaufman said. Initially, school administrators clearly didn’t think he could manage the speed of his new courses. Kaufman was allowed to try them on a provisional basis, which he said didn’t inspire much confidence. But he was determined to prove them all wrong and was inspired by his new freedom. He wanted to experience everything school had to offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was curious for the first time in my life to see what I was capable of,” Kaufman said. In his first semester outside special education classes, Kaufman went from a C-average to almost all A's. “I do love learning in general and I’m very curious. I was excited. I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I felt like, wow, for the first time I’m free.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though Kaufman proved himself capable of excelling in general education high school classes, when he applied to Carnegie Mellon University -- writing that he wanted to study psychology so he could redefine intelligence -- he was rejected because his SAT scores were too low. The irony of that rejection doesn’t escape Kaufman but he was undaunted, applying to the college’s opera program instead because it didn’t require SATs.* He got in and slowly started taking classes in psychology, eventually changing majors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaufman is now a professor of positive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and the scientific director of its \u003ca href=\"http://imagination-institute.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Imagination Institute\u003c/a>. He got his master's from Cambridge and a doctorate from Yale, where he wrote his dissertation on a \u003ca href=\"http://gradworks.umi.com/33/62/3362196.html\" target=\"_blank\">new theory of intelligence\u003c/a>. Kaufman is clearly capable of deep scholarship when he’s passionate about his work. But where would he be if that teacher hadn't recognized his frustration, or if he’d accepted Carnegie Mellon’s initial rejection?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nREDEFINING INTELLIGENCE\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaufman’s own experience and deep curiosity have led him to question the entire premise of the education system, which is based on IQ as the single measure of intelligence and cognitive ability. Kaufman thinks the traditional IQ test does a good job of measuring general cognitive ability, but says it misses all the ways that ability interacts with engagement. An individual’s goals within the learning classroom and excitement about a topic affect how he or she pursues learning, none of which is captured on IQ tests. Worse, those tests are often used to filter people in or out of special programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than using this singular definition of intelligence, Kaufman’s work focuses on identifying characteristics of highly creative people. The Imagination Institute \u003ca href=\"http://imagination-institute.org/grant-recipients\" target=\"_blank\">funds projects\u003c/a> in a variety of disciplines that examine the role of imagination in different domains. Together these researchers are working to define an “imagination quotient,” which takes into account all the ways imagination functions in people’s work and maps what’s going on in their brains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaufman and others working in this area have slowly been mapping out what’s called the \u003ca href=\"http://www.nslc.wustl.edu/courses/bio3411/woolsey/Readings/Lecture11/Buckner%20et%20al%202008.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">default mode network\u003c/a>, or what Kaufman likes to call the “imagination network.” This brain network is largely ignored by cognitive scientists because it is off when a person is being asked to focus externally. When executive functioning is required, the imagination network is largely quiet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this network is extremely important for internal reflection and the process of \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/03/15/how-emotional-connections-can-trigger-creativity-and-learning/\" target=\"_blank\">meaning-making\u003c/a>. It is associated with daydreaming, retrieving deeply personal memories and moderating emotional space. “The second you make a personal connection to anything, this network lights up,” Kaufman said. “When you do the reading comprehension section of the SAT, this network is completely silent,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the time the brain toggles between the default mode network and the more outward-focused attention network. But neuroscientists like Rex Jung and colleagues are beginning to \u003ca href=\"http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00330/abstract\" target=\"_blank\">map out\u003c/a> an understanding of creative cognition. They're finding that very creative people actually have stronger connections between the networks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People who scored really highly on our imaginative test show greater brain connectivity between these brain networks that are talked about a lot in the literature as being at odds,” Kaufman said. He believes this is because imaginative, creative people are good at \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/the-real-neuroscience-of-creativity/\" target=\"_blank\">disconnecting the attention network \u003c/a>in order to enter a flow state when they generate ideas, but can then key back into executive functioning in order to focus, sort and make sense of that generative time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People who are really creative are really good activating and deactivating these neural networks,” Kaufman said. They also tend to be \u003ca href=\"http://scottbarrykaufman.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Kaufman-et-al.-2015.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">open to experiences\u003c/a> and score highly on divergent thinking tests. Since both attention and imagination networks are located in the brain, Kaufman believes it is a misnomer to call the qualities arising from the default mode network \"non-cognitive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so important that we appreciate all of the cognitive functions coming from the imaginative brain network,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>FOUR PRACTICES TO CULTIVATE CHILDREN’S CREATIVITY\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the primacy of the attention network and \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/01/11/research-based-strategies-to-help-children-develop-self-control/\" target=\"_blank\">executive functioning in education\u003c/a>, Kaufman says there are several ways parents and educators can nurture creativity in young people and in adults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1.\u003c/strong> Kaufman recommends allowing more solitary reflective time in kids’ schedules. Whether it’s the constant demands on attention at school or in after-school activities, there often isn’t enough time in a child’s day when she can switch off the executive functioning network and tap into the imagination network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think executive function and self-control alone are nothing,” Kaufman said. “It’s just duty. Executive function for what?” He believes educators need to do more to couple executive function with imagination so learning comes alive with personal meaning. Then when the teacher demands attention, it is worthwhile to the learner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2.\u003c/strong> “We support obsessive passion, but not harmonious passion,” Kaufman said. He defines harmonious passion as a core part of people's identity that makes them feel good about themselves. Harmonious passion is characterized by flexible engagement, where a child can abandon the pursuit if it isn’t paying dividends. And the passion often reflects qualities a person likes about himself and is easily integrated with the rest of his identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This type of passion is correlated with physical health, psychological well-being, work stamina (less burnout), concentration, self-esteem and work satisfaction, among other things. Harmonious passion differs from obsessive passion or motivation because it is a core part of a person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to be on the lookout for the twinkle in the eye and cultivate that harmonious passion,” Kaufman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3.\u003c/strong> Kaufman also says it’s important to give young kids a diverse set of experiences in order to increase the chances of inspiration. “Lots of things add meaning to our lives,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4.\u003c/strong> Lastly, Kaufman believes educators, parents, and policymakers need to reset their mindsets around student ability. “Kids who think differently are not appreciated in our school system at all,” Kaufman said. “There is so much we could build on with kids who think differently.” Rather than trying to shoehorn every child into one mold, Kaufman hopes educators from the top of the system down to individual classrooms will someday value the individual qualities that make each child uniquely gifted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is to really stimulate this field,” Kaufman said. “It’s been dominated by the same tests for 50 years. It’s time to look at things like inspiration and daydreaming or musical skills. We can be more imaginative in how we measure imagination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some have wondered if it’s even worth \u003ca href=\"http://ideas.ted.com/can-a-test-measure-your-imagination/\" target=\"_blank\">measuring imagination\u003c/a>, but Kaufman believes that measurement is important so researchers can see how changing behavior affects creative achievement. But he hopes the measurements are never used as another sorting mechanism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The key here is to assume there are a key set of skills that can be developed in everyone,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>*A previous version of this story indicated Kaufman had no voice training when he applied to the opera program. In fact, he had voice lessons in high school and sang in the choir. We regret the error.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
"disqusIdentifier": "44561 http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=44561",
"disqusUrl": "https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/04/11/rethinking-intelligence-how-does-imagination-measure-up/",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1698,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 30
},
"modified": 1460579145,
"excerpt": "Neuroscientists and psychologists are trying to develop a new way of thinking about intelligence, one that includes kids who don't always shine in the traditional system.",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Neuroscientists and psychologists are trying to develop a new way of thinking about intelligence, one that includes kids who don't always shine in the traditional system.",
"title": "Rethinking Intelligence: How Does Imagination Measure Up? | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Rethinking Intelligence: How Does Imagination Measure Up?",
"datePublished": "2016-04-11T22:57:16-07:00",
"dateModified": "2016-04-13T13:25:45-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "rethinking-intelligence-how-does-imagination-measure-up",
"status": "publish",
"path": "/mindshift/44561/rethinking-intelligence-how-does-imagination-measure-up",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman’s personal education story may sound familiar to many families struggling against a system that doesn’t tend to value qualities in students that make them different from a predetermined “\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/03/28/what-do-we-lose-by-measuring-average-in-education/\" target=\"_blank\">average\u003c/a>” learner. When he was young, Kaufman had \u003ca href=\"http://kidshealth.org/en/parents/central-auditory.html\" target=\"_blank\">central auditory processing disorder\u003c/a>, which made it hard for him to process verbal information in real time. He was asked to repeat third grade because he was considered a “slow” learner. That started him down a path of special education classes until high school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I felt on the one hand that I was capable of more intellectual challenges,” Kaufman told an audience at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/visit-us/programs-and-events/creativity-forum/\" target=\"_blank\">Creativity Forum \u003c/a>hosted by the \u003ca href=\"http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/\">Bay Area Discovery Museum\u003c/a>, “but on the other hand I thought, ‘Who am I to question authority?’ ” So he didn’t, and since school wasn’t challenging him, Kaufman spent a lot of time in his own internal world, \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/06/01/why-daydreaming-isnt-a-waste-of-time/\" target=\"_blank\">daydreaming\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In the school system no one sees your inner stream of consciousness, your imagination. They only see how slow you are,” Kaufman said. That would have been true for Kaufman throughout school, except one perceptive teacher recognized his simmering frustration and was willing to look past his long history in special education classes. She gave him an untimed test, which ultimately showed he was likely capable of participating in general education classes.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">One of the most powerful wellsprings of creative energy, outstanding accomplishment, and self-fulfillment seems to be falling in love with something — your dream, your image of the future. \u003ccite>\u003ca href=\"http://scottbarrykaufman.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Torrance-falling-in-love-with-something.pdf\">E. Paul Torrance\u003c/a>\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“No one had ever tried to break out of special ed before at my high school,” Kaufman said. Initially, school administrators clearly didn’t think he could manage the speed of his new courses. Kaufman was allowed to try them on a provisional basis, which he said didn’t inspire much confidence. But he was determined to prove them all wrong and was inspired by his new freedom. He wanted to experience everything school had to offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was curious for the first time in my life to see what I was capable of,” Kaufman said. In his first semester outside special education classes, Kaufman went from a C-average to almost all A's. “I do love learning in general and I’m very curious. I was excited. I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I felt like, wow, for the first time I’m free.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though Kaufman proved himself capable of excelling in general education high school classes, when he applied to Carnegie Mellon University -- writing that he wanted to study psychology so he could redefine intelligence -- he was rejected because his SAT scores were too low. The irony of that rejection doesn’t escape Kaufman but he was undaunted, applying to the college’s opera program instead because it didn’t require SATs.* He got in and slowly started taking classes in psychology, eventually changing majors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaufman is now a professor of positive psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and the scientific director of its \u003ca href=\"http://imagination-institute.org/\" target=\"_blank\">Imagination Institute\u003c/a>. He got his master's from Cambridge and a doctorate from Yale, where he wrote his dissertation on a \u003ca href=\"http://gradworks.umi.com/33/62/3362196.html\" target=\"_blank\">new theory of intelligence\u003c/a>. Kaufman is clearly capable of deep scholarship when he’s passionate about his work. But where would he be if that teacher hadn't recognized his frustration, or if he’d accepted Carnegie Mellon’s initial rejection?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nREDEFINING INTELLIGENCE\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaufman’s own experience and deep curiosity have led him to question the entire premise of the education system, which is based on IQ as the single measure of intelligence and cognitive ability. Kaufman thinks the traditional IQ test does a good job of measuring general cognitive ability, but says it misses all the ways that ability interacts with engagement. An individual’s goals within the learning classroom and excitement about a topic affect how he or she pursues learning, none of which is captured on IQ tests. Worse, those tests are often used to filter people in or out of special programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than using this singular definition of intelligence, Kaufman’s work focuses on identifying characteristics of highly creative people. The Imagination Institute \u003ca href=\"http://imagination-institute.org/grant-recipients\" target=\"_blank\">funds projects\u003c/a> in a variety of disciplines that examine the role of imagination in different domains. Together these researchers are working to define an “imagination quotient,” which takes into account all the ways imagination functions in people’s work and maps what’s going on in their brains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaufman and others working in this area have slowly been mapping out what’s called the \u003ca href=\"http://www.nslc.wustl.edu/courses/bio3411/woolsey/Readings/Lecture11/Buckner%20et%20al%202008.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">default mode network\u003c/a>, or what Kaufman likes to call the “imagination network.” This brain network is largely ignored by cognitive scientists because it is off when a person is being asked to focus externally. When executive functioning is required, the imagination network is largely quiet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this network is extremely important for internal reflection and the process of \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2013/03/15/how-emotional-connections-can-trigger-creativity-and-learning/\" target=\"_blank\">meaning-making\u003c/a>. It is associated with daydreaming, retrieving deeply personal memories and moderating emotional space. “The second you make a personal connection to anything, this network lights up,” Kaufman said. “When you do the reading comprehension section of the SAT, this network is completely silent,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the time the brain toggles between the default mode network and the more outward-focused attention network. But neuroscientists like Rex Jung and colleagues are beginning to \u003ca href=\"http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00330/abstract\" target=\"_blank\">map out\u003c/a> an understanding of creative cognition. They're finding that very creative people actually have stronger connections between the networks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People who scored really highly on our imaginative test show greater brain connectivity between these brain networks that are talked about a lot in the literature as being at odds,” Kaufman said. He believes this is because imaginative, creative people are good at \u003ca href=\"http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/the-real-neuroscience-of-creativity/\" target=\"_blank\">disconnecting the attention network \u003c/a>in order to enter a flow state when they generate ideas, but can then key back into executive functioning in order to focus, sort and make sense of that generative time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People who are really creative are really good activating and deactivating these neural networks,” Kaufman said. They also tend to be \u003ca href=\"http://scottbarrykaufman.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Kaufman-et-al.-2015.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">open to experiences\u003c/a> and score highly on divergent thinking tests. Since both attention and imagination networks are located in the brain, Kaufman believes it is a misnomer to call the qualities arising from the default mode network \"non-cognitive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so important that we appreciate all of the cognitive functions coming from the imaginative brain network,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>FOUR PRACTICES TO CULTIVATE CHILDREN’S CREATIVITY\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the primacy of the attention network and \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/01/11/research-based-strategies-to-help-children-develop-self-control/\" target=\"_blank\">executive functioning in education\u003c/a>, Kaufman says there are several ways parents and educators can nurture creativity in young people and in adults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>1.\u003c/strong> Kaufman recommends allowing more solitary reflective time in kids’ schedules. Whether it’s the constant demands on attention at school or in after-school activities, there often isn’t enough time in a child’s day when she can switch off the executive functioning network and tap into the imagination network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think executive function and self-control alone are nothing,” Kaufman said. “It’s just duty. Executive function for what?” He believes educators need to do more to couple executive function with imagination so learning comes alive with personal meaning. Then when the teacher demands attention, it is worthwhile to the learner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>2.\u003c/strong> “We support obsessive passion, but not harmonious passion,” Kaufman said. He defines harmonious passion as a core part of people's identity that makes them feel good about themselves. Harmonious passion is characterized by flexible engagement, where a child can abandon the pursuit if it isn’t paying dividends. And the passion often reflects qualities a person likes about himself and is easily integrated with the rest of his identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This type of passion is correlated with physical health, psychological well-being, work stamina (less burnout), concentration, self-esteem and work satisfaction, among other things. Harmonious passion differs from obsessive passion or motivation because it is a core part of a person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to be on the lookout for the twinkle in the eye and cultivate that harmonious passion,” Kaufman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>3.\u003c/strong> Kaufman also says it’s important to give young kids a diverse set of experiences in order to increase the chances of inspiration. “Lots of things add meaning to our lives,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>4.\u003c/strong> Lastly, Kaufman believes educators, parents, and policymakers need to reset their mindsets around student ability. “Kids who think differently are not appreciated in our school system at all,” Kaufman said. “There is so much we could build on with kids who think differently.” Rather than trying to shoehorn every child into one mold, Kaufman hopes educators from the top of the system down to individual classrooms will someday value the individual qualities that make each child uniquely gifted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is to really stimulate this field,” Kaufman said. “It’s been dominated by the same tests for 50 years. It’s time to look at things like inspiration and daydreaming or musical skills. We can be more imaginative in how we measure imagination.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some have wondered if it’s even worth \u003ca href=\"http://ideas.ted.com/can-a-test-measure-your-imagination/\" target=\"_blank\">measuring imagination\u003c/a>, but Kaufman believes that measurement is important so researchers can see how changing behavior affects creative achievement. But he hopes the measurements are never used as another sorting mechanism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The key here is to assume there are a key set of skills that can be developed in everyone,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>*A previous version of this story indicated Kaufman had no voice training when he applied to the opera program. In fact, he had voice lessons in high school and sang in the choir. We regret the error.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/mindshift/44561/rethinking-intelligence-how-does-imagination-measure-up",
"authors": [
"234"
],
"categories": [
"mindshift_20579"
],
"tags": [
"mindshift_862",
"mindshift_20784",
"mindshift_1040",
"mindshift_20983",
"mindshift_46",
"mindshift_20982"
],
"featImg": "mindshift_44581",
"label": "mindshift"
},
"mindshift_44153": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "mindshift_44153",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "44153",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1457078640000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "mindshift"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1457078640,
"format": "standard",
"disqusTitle": "How to Turn on the Part of Your Brain That Controls Motivation",
"title": "How to Turn on the Part of Your Brain That Controls Motivation",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>We know we should put the cigarettes away or make use of that gym membership, but in the moment, we just don't do it. There is a cluster of neurons in our brain critical for motivation, though. What if you could hack them to motivate yourself?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These neurons are located in the middle of the brain, in a region called the ventral tegmental area. A \u003ca href=\"http://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(16)00095-7\">paper \u003c/a>published Thursday in the journal \u003cem>Neuron\u003c/em> suggests that we can activate the region with a little bit of training.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers stuck 73 people into an fMRI, a scanner that can detect what part of the brain is most active, and focused on that area associated with motivation. When the researchers said \"motivate yourself and make this part of your brain light up,\" people couldn't really do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"They weren't that reliable when we said, 'Go! Get psyched. Turn on your VTA,' \" says \u003ca href=\"https://web.duke.edu/adcocklab/people_files/people.html\">Dr. Alison Adcock\u003c/a>, a psychiatrist at Duke and senior author on the paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That changed when the participants were allowed to watch a neurofeedback meter that displayed activity in their ventral tegmental area. When activity ramps up, the participants see the meter heat up while they're in the fMRI tube.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Your whole mind is allowed to speak to a specific part of your brain in a way you never imagined before. Then you get feedback that helps you discover how to turn that part of the brain up or down,\" says \u003ca href=\"https://mcgovern.mit.edu/principal-investigators/john-gabrieli\">John Gabrieli\u003c/a>, a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not involved with the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-teachers-share-mindshift/id1078765985\">\u003cimg class=\"alignright wp-image-45053 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/Podcast-Square-e1463002696628.jpg\" alt=\"Podcast-Square\" width=\"250\" height=\"227\">\u003c/a>Using an fMRI for this kind of brain feedback is more effective than other, older tools like placing electrodes on the skull or EEG, Gabrieli says. \"MRI lets you target a specific brain system or structure. EEG does not. When we're measuring electrical activity, we don't know really where it's coming from.\" He says he hasn't seen compelling evidence that EEG feedback, which is commercially available, has helped people change their behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two of the researchers, \u003ca href=\"https://www.neuro.duke.edu/people/students-and-postdocs/kathryn-dickerson\">Kathryn Dickerson\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.neuro.duke.edu/people/students-and-postdocs/jeff-macinnes\">Jeff MacInnes\u003c/a>, tried the system out on themselves. Not everything worked. Dickerson said she tried thinking about different memories that left the feedback meter cold. \"Zip lining was super fun, but [thinking about that] was just terrible and not effective at all.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So she switched strategies and tried giving herself a pep talk in the scanner. \"I was like, 'Come on Katie. Move the thermometer. Just do it and move it.' And I just pumped myself up. That was very effective,\" she says. \"It was exhilarating.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was also exhausting, MacInnes says. \"The experience of the task was very difficult. You're being asked to generate these intense motivational states for 20 seconds over multiple periods. It was very fatiguing for people.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Study participants had a similar experience, Adcock says. Some people sang Queen songs to themselves or imagined having an angry coach yell at them. \"My personal favorite was running down a line with everyone giving you high-fives,\" Adcock says. When she took the feedback meter away, the participants were still able to light up their ventral tegmental area by thinking about the same things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People really are changing their mood when they're doing this, Adcock thinks. They're really becoming more focused and eager. And it seems the effect begins reaching out to parts of the brain involved with learning and memory,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We think that's exciting because it shows after this training, something changed, Dickerson says. \"The brain isn't quite the same.\" She thinks people might be achieving a state of mind that's more conducive to learning and motivation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that's true, it would be extraordinarily useful, Gabrieli says. Using MRIs to exert control over certain parts of our brain has been done before, he says. \"[But this] is the first study to show it can be applied to the most important brain structure for human motivation. That could be very valuable for things people want to accomplish in life.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or it might be applied to habits that are really hard to start or break, Gabrieli says. \"The hugely exciting piece of this is whether now people can use this upcoming research to gain control of behaviors that are challenging,\" he says. \"Healthy habits, eating habits, stopping to smoke and can a person with addiction use this successfully?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it might someday be a clinical tool. For instance, this particular cluster of neurons in the midbrain is part of the dopamine system. Adcock thinks activating the neurons in this way might also be releasing dopamine that could replace drug therapy for certain disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"In ADHD, for example, we use stimulants that result in the same kind of release of brain chemicals,\" Adcock says. \"Does this technique generate that same kind of release of dopamine that a stimulant does? If we teach people to use it successfully, we could impact attention.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But nobody knows if this actually changes brain chemistry. MacInnes says there are more experiments and tests they need to see if the brain activation they're seeing actually does release dopamine or other neurochemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if it does, Adcock says it's definitely not affecting neurochemicals as much as a medication like Adderall, which is used to treat ADHD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Adcock hasn't yet studied whether anyone actually changed their behavior after the sessions in the MRI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the study, people have been trying the same strategies to motivate themselves in their daily lives, according to Adcock. If it's working, brain training in an MRI might be a way for us to tap into our mind's circuitry for willpower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That, Gabrieli says, would be terrific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Could+You+Hack+Your+Brain+To+Get+More+Motivated%3F+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\" alt=\"\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/Podcast-Square-e1463002696628.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1078765985\">Subscribe in iTunes\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Don't miss an episode of \u003cem>Stories Teachers Share\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also available via \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/category/stories-teachers-share/feed/\">RSS\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n",
"disqusIdentifier": "44153 http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=44153",
"disqusUrl": "https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/03/04/how-to-turn-on-the-part-of-your-brain-that-controls-motivation/",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 979,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 27
},
"modified": 1463074272,
"excerpt": "Volunteers learned to activate a part of the brain linked to motivation when they got feedback from an MRI. It's much more specific than older forms of biofeedback. But could it help change habits?",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Volunteers learned to activate a part of the brain linked to motivation when they got feedback from an MRI. It's much more specific than older forms of biofeedback. But could it help change habits?",
"title": "How to Turn on the Part of Your Brain That Controls Motivation | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "How to Turn on the Part of Your Brain That Controls Motivation",
"datePublished": "2016-03-04T00:04:00-08:00",
"dateModified": "2016-05-12T10:31:12-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "how-to-turn-on-the-part-of-your-brain-that-controls-motivation",
"status": "publish",
"nprApiLink": "http://api.npr.org/query?id=469033034&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004",
"nprByline": "Angus Chen",
"nprStoryDate": "Thu, 03 Mar 2016 12:04:00 -0500",
"nprLastModifiedDate": "Thu, 03 Mar 2016 18:27:46 -0500",
"nprHtmlLink": "http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/03/469033034/could-you-hack-your-brain-to-get-more-motivated?ft=nprml&f=469033034",
"nprImageAgency": "Getty Images/Ikon Images",
"nprImageCredit": "Gary Waters",
"nprStoryId": "469033034",
"nprRetrievedStory": "1",
"nprPubDate": "Thu, 03 Mar 2016 18:27:00 -0500",
"path": "/mindshift/44153/how-to-turn-on-the-part-of-your-brain-that-controls-motivation",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>We know we should put the cigarettes away or make use of that gym membership, but in the moment, we just don't do it. There is a cluster of neurons in our brain critical for motivation, though. What if you could hack them to motivate yourself?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These neurons are located in the middle of the brain, in a region called the ventral tegmental area. A \u003ca href=\"http://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(16)00095-7\">paper \u003c/a>published Thursday in the journal \u003cem>Neuron\u003c/em> suggests that we can activate the region with a little bit of training.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The researchers stuck 73 people into an fMRI, a scanner that can detect what part of the brain is most active, and focused on that area associated with motivation. When the researchers said \"motivate yourself and make this part of your brain light up,\" people couldn't really do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"They weren't that reliable when we said, 'Go! Get psyched. Turn on your VTA,' \" says \u003ca href=\"https://web.duke.edu/adcocklab/people_files/people.html\">Dr. Alison Adcock\u003c/a>, a psychiatrist at Duke and senior author on the paper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That changed when the participants were allowed to watch a neurofeedback meter that displayed activity in their ventral tegmental area. When activity ramps up, the participants see the meter heat up while they're in the fMRI tube.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Your whole mind is allowed to speak to a specific part of your brain in a way you never imagined before. Then you get feedback that helps you discover how to turn that part of the brain up or down,\" says \u003ca href=\"https://mcgovern.mit.edu/principal-investigators/john-gabrieli\">John Gabrieli\u003c/a>, a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not involved with the work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-teachers-share-mindshift/id1078765985\">\u003cimg class=\"alignright wp-image-45053 size-full\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/Podcast-Square-e1463002696628.jpg\" alt=\"Podcast-Square\" width=\"250\" height=\"227\">\u003c/a>Using an fMRI for this kind of brain feedback is more effective than other, older tools like placing electrodes on the skull or EEG, Gabrieli says. \"MRI lets you target a specific brain system or structure. EEG does not. When we're measuring electrical activity, we don't know really where it's coming from.\" He says he hasn't seen compelling evidence that EEG feedback, which is commercially available, has helped people change their behavior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Two of the researchers, \u003ca href=\"https://www.neuro.duke.edu/people/students-and-postdocs/kathryn-dickerson\">Kathryn Dickerson\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.neuro.duke.edu/people/students-and-postdocs/jeff-macinnes\">Jeff MacInnes\u003c/a>, tried the system out on themselves. Not everything worked. Dickerson said she tried thinking about different memories that left the feedback meter cold. \"Zip lining was super fun, but [thinking about that] was just terrible and not effective at all.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So she switched strategies and tried giving herself a pep talk in the scanner. \"I was like, 'Come on Katie. Move the thermometer. Just do it and move it.' And I just pumped myself up. That was very effective,\" she says. \"It was exhilarating.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was also exhausting, MacInnes says. \"The experience of the task was very difficult. You're being asked to generate these intense motivational states for 20 seconds over multiple periods. It was very fatiguing for people.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Study participants had a similar experience, Adcock says. Some people sang Queen songs to themselves or imagined having an angry coach yell at them. \"My personal favorite was running down a line with everyone giving you high-fives,\" Adcock says. When she took the feedback meter away, the participants were still able to light up their ventral tegmental area by thinking about the same things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>People really are changing their mood when they're doing this, Adcock thinks. They're really becoming more focused and eager. And it seems the effect begins reaching out to parts of the brain involved with learning and memory,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We think that's exciting because it shows after this training, something changed, Dickerson says. \"The brain isn't quite the same.\" She thinks people might be achieving a state of mind that's more conducive to learning and motivation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If that's true, it would be extraordinarily useful, Gabrieli says. Using MRIs to exert control over certain parts of our brain has been done before, he says. \"[But this] is the first study to show it can be applied to the most important brain structure for human motivation. That could be very valuable for things people want to accomplish in life.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Or it might be applied to habits that are really hard to start or break, Gabrieli says. \"The hugely exciting piece of this is whether now people can use this upcoming research to gain control of behaviors that are challenging,\" he says. \"Healthy habits, eating habits, stopping to smoke and can a person with addiction use this successfully?\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it might someday be a clinical tool. For instance, this particular cluster of neurons in the midbrain is part of the dopamine system. Adcock thinks activating the neurons in this way might also be releasing dopamine that could replace drug therapy for certain disorders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"In ADHD, for example, we use stimulants that result in the same kind of release of brain chemicals,\" Adcock says. \"Does this technique generate that same kind of release of dopamine that a stimulant does? If we teach people to use it successfully, we could impact attention.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But nobody knows if this actually changes brain chemistry. MacInnes says there are more experiments and tests they need to see if the brain activation they're seeing actually does release dopamine or other neurochemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if it does, Adcock says it's definitely not affecting neurochemicals as much as a medication like Adderall, which is used to treat ADHD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And Adcock hasn't yet studied whether anyone actually changed their behavior after the sessions in the MRI.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the study, people have been trying the same strategies to motivate themselves in their daily lives, according to Adcock. If it's working, brain training in an MRI might be a way for us to tap into our mind's circuitry for willpower.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That, Gabrieli says, would be terrific.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg src=\"http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Could+You+Hack+Your+Brain+To+Get+More+Motivated%3F+&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\" alt=\"\">\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2016/04/Podcast-Square-e1463002696628.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1078765985\">Subscribe in iTunes\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Don't miss an episode of \u003cem>Stories Teachers Share\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also available via \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/category/stories-teachers-share/feed/\">RSS\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/mindshift/44153/how-to-turn-on-the-part-of-your-brain-that-controls-motivation",
"authors": [
"byline_mindshift_44153"
],
"categories": [
"mindshift_192"
],
"tags": [
"mindshift_20784",
"mindshift_1040",
"mindshift_46"
],
"featImg": "mindshift_44154",
"label": "mindshift"
},
"mindshift_43326": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "mindshift_43326",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "43326",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1452504878000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "mindshift"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1452504878,
"format": "standard",
"disqusTitle": "Research-based Strategies to Help Children Develop Self-Control",
"title": "Research-based Strategies to Help Children Develop Self-Control",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>It all started when psychology professor \u003ca href=\"http://www.columbia.edu/cu/psychology/indiv_pages/mischel/Walter_Mischel.html\" target=\"_blank\">Walter Mischel\u003c/a> was watching his four closely-spaced daughters growing up. He realized he had no idea what was going on in their brains that made it possible for a child who at one moment had no impulse control and just a few months later could inhibit her emotions, wait for things and have conversations. He became curious about how children develop these skills, which led to the famous marshmallow experiment conducted at the Bing Nursery School on Stanford’s campus, where Mischel was a professor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That study has become famous over the last 50 years, leading to many hilarious \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=marshmallow+test\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube videos\u003c/a> (none of which are the original test subjects) and a lifetime’s work examining how various strategies can help both adults and children learn to delay gratification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the original marshmallow study, researchers spent time building up trust and rapport with their 4-year-old subjects before starting the experiment. The researcher then told the child that she was going to leave him in the room with a treat (cookie, pretzel or marshmallow) and if he waited to eat it until she returned, she would give him two marshmallows. Alternatively, the child could put an end to his misery by ringing the bell, at which point the researcher would return, but the child would get only the one treat. Mischel and his colleagues followed the test subjects over the next 50 years and found that those who were able to wait fared better on a variety of indices, including \u003ca href=\"http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/05/18/dont-2\" target=\"_blank\">higher SAT scores\u003c/a>, better ability to cope with stress and a lower body mass index.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">'To even want to delay gratification requires a trust expectation that's often not there for kids for whom self-control and delayed gratification is most difficult.'\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“One of the biggest determinators of choices of that kind is trust,” Mischel said at a Learning and the Brain conference in Boston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He is now a psychology professor at Columbia University. Critics of his work often point out that children living in low-income communities, many of whom have experienced discrimination or disrespect from society, \u003ca href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027712001849\" target=\"_blank\">have no reason to trust those in positions of authority\u003c/a>. Those kids might scarf down the marshmallow, not because they have no self-control but because they have no reason to believe the researcher is telling the truth about a second marshmallow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mischel agrees that the importance of a trusting relationship between the adult and child is often overlooked in reporting about his research. He began studying that aspect \u003ca href=\"http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2012-10-17/what-does-the-marshmallow-test-actually-test\" target=\"_blank\">at the very beginning of this work\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To even want to delay gratification requires a trust expectation that’s often not there for kids for whom self-control and delayed gratification is most difficult,” Mischel said. For children whose worlds are unstable and unpredictable, the marshmallow test may be testing belief in authority as much as self-control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"480\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/G7LN96jEXHc\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But aside from the specifics of the marshmallow test, lots of research has shown the value of self-control to positive life outcomes. That’s why Mischel is trying to focus the conversation on strategies educators and parents can use to help kids build self-control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The value of self-control has been measured in lots of longitudinal studies,” said \u003ca href=\"https://psy.fsu.edu/faculty/baumeister.dp.html\" target=\"_blank\">Roy Baumeister\u003c/a>, a psychologist at Florida State University who studies self-control and helped debunk an earlier theory that self-esteem was the foundation of academic success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Self-control is the ability to override thoughts, impulses and emotions, and people who have it tend to do better in school and work. Baumeister said studies have shown people with high levels of self-control have better relationships, are happier, have less stress, are in better physical health, have better mental health and live longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baumeister’s work has also helped demonstrate that self-control is like a muscle -- it can be strengthened with exercise, but \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magazine/do-you-suffer-from-decision-fatigue.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0\" target=\"_blank\">it also tires\u003c/a>. “You have one resource, willpower, and you can expend it on different things,” Baumeister said at a Learning and the Brain conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So if a child uses up all his willpower controlling his emotions, he may be too depleted to show a lot of self-control at performing tasks. Additionally, making decisions and compromising use the same reserves of willpower. When people are depleted, they are more likely to default to old behaviors, less likely to compromise, more likely to follow impulses and less likely to trust others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knowing how important self-control is for positive outcomes, but recognizing that many children are experiencing several demands for their self-control at all times, how can educators help students build up their self-control muscles so they don’t tire as quickly?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nSTRATEGIES TO DELAY GRATIFICATION\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mischel says that his studies of tactics used by 4- and 5-year-olds hold true for older people as well. One of the biggest ones is self-distraction. During the marshmallow test, kids sit in that room by themselves with the coveted marshmallow in front of them, and they sing to themselves or imagine they are somewhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">'The critical thing is to make delayed consequences more visible, more complete, more consequential, and to make the immediate rewards less hot.'\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“It’s purposeful self-distraction with executive function,” Mischel said. “They have the goal in mind. They are actively inhibiting the responses. They are preventing hands from reaching out to take it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another common strategy kids use is self-distancing. Mischel described one boy who picked up the bell he would use to call the researcher back into the room and slowly, very carefully, moved it to the edge of the table as far from him as possible. Other kids pretended the marshmallow was a picture, instead of real food, making it seem less attractive. Mischel even worked with \"Sesame Street\" on a Cookie Monster skit that would show young kids that it pays to wait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/XsC2W587_Fc\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the original marshmallow test has come \u003ca href=\"http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/02/19/just-let-them-eat-the-marshmallow.html\" target=\"_blank\">under fire\u003c/a> for its small size and homogenous makeup (all the kids were either children of Stanford faculty or graduate students), Mischel has continued delayed gratification studies with students in the South Bronx with similar results. He said the keys are to keep the goal in mind, to suppress responses and to monitor progress toward the goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All humans have what Mischel calls a “hot system” and a “cool system,” both of which are crucially important. The hot system is where the fight-or-flight syndrome comes from. It is emotional, simple, stress-induced, reflexive, fast, centered in the amygdala and draws on the limbic system. It’s fundamental to survival and it develops early. When the hot system goes up, the cool system goes down. Mischel said most kids living in difficult situations are forced into using their “hot system” most of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cool system is cognitive, complex, reflective and slow. It is based in the frontal lobe and hippocampus and develops later. It is attenuated by stress and is crucial to self-control. The two systems work at opposite purposes, but both are important to survival and success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to helping students delay gratification and thus work on self-control, Mischel said his experiments show “you have to cool the now and heat the later.” In other words, things that are immediate stimulate the hot system, but delayed gratification requires the cool system. So, when trying to get a student to see the benefit of working hard all the way through school so he or she can get into college, educators have to help students see that delayed reward as “hot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The critical thing is to make delayed consequences more visible, more complete, more consequential and to make the immediate rewards less hot,” Mischel said. When kids are stressed out, it’s much more difficult for them to keep long-term goals in mind because they are constantly activating their “hot” or stress-induced system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mischel has \u003ca href=\"http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/struggles-psychologist-studying-self-control\" target=\"_blank\">personal experience with the strategies he recommends\u003c/a>. He used to smoke three packs of cigarettes a day and often a pipe at night. He knew that smoking was bad for him, but that wasn’t enough to make the consequences feel real. One day he saw a man in the Stanford hospital getting ready for radiation. “That image is what allowed me to make the delayed consequences hot,” Mischel said. “Every time I reached for the cigarette, I remembered that image.” And he was able to quit smoking using that very personal image to help him delay gratification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mischel suggests that to help students develop self-control, educators could spend a little time helping kids identify their own hot spots and developing strategies to mediate them. For example, if a student knows that texts from friends distract him from homework, then he’ll turn off his phone when he’s trying to focus. It’s a pre-determined “if/then” plan based on specific trigger points. But to make that plan, students have to know what the “if” is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The research makes it very clear that the human brain is far more educable than previously thought,” Mischel said. He sees this kind of individual mapping as a key to developing emotional intelligence and ultimately as a route to much more freedom, choice and agency. Rather than having instinct drive decisions, kids can learn to make the decisions they believe will benefit them in the long term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t want to train our children to be without hot emotionality, we just want them to be in control,” Mischel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young people are actually getting better at delaying gratification and self-control, Mischel said. He points out that just as intelligence has been increasing over the past 60 years, so, too, have these other characteristics. He attributes the change to technology, and is particularly excited about \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/05/16/social-and-emotional-benefits-of-video-games-metacognition-and-relationships/\" target=\"_blank\">video games\u003c/a>, which he says require setting a goal, inhibiting interfering responses and using attention-control mechanisms to reach that goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It may be a distraction from doing their arithmetic, but the games themselves can be enormously useful tools in enhancing executive function,” Mischel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, he believes if educators can find productive ways to use his research in classrooms, they will also improve student motivation, which can’t be detached from the idea of student efficacy in meeting goals.\u003c/p>\n\n",
"disqusIdentifier": "43326 http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=43326",
"disqusUrl": "https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/01/11/research-based-strategies-to-help-children-develop-self-control/",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": true,
"hasChartOrMap": true,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1775,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [
"https://www.youtube.com/embed/G7LN96jEXHc",
"https://www.youtube.com/embed/XsC2W587_Fc"
],
"paragraphCount": 32
},
"modified": 1452504878,
"excerpt": "Self-control has been connected to positive outcomes for kids later in life. Walter Mischel outlines strategies educators can use to help kids grow this skill. ",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Self-control has been connected to positive outcomes for kids later in life. Walter Mischel outlines strategies educators can use to help kids grow this skill. ",
"title": "Research-based Strategies to Help Children Develop Self-Control | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Research-based Strategies to Help Children Develop Self-Control",
"datePublished": "2016-01-11T01:34:38-08:00",
"dateModified": "2016-01-11T01:34:38-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "research-based-strategies-to-help-children-develop-self-control",
"status": "publish",
"path": "/mindshift/43326/research-based-strategies-to-help-children-develop-self-control",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It all started when psychology professor \u003ca href=\"http://www.columbia.edu/cu/psychology/indiv_pages/mischel/Walter_Mischel.html\" target=\"_blank\">Walter Mischel\u003c/a> was watching his four closely-spaced daughters growing up. He realized he had no idea what was going on in their brains that made it possible for a child who at one moment had no impulse control and just a few months later could inhibit her emotions, wait for things and have conversations. He became curious about how children develop these skills, which led to the famous marshmallow experiment conducted at the Bing Nursery School on Stanford’s campus, where Mischel was a professor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That study has become famous over the last 50 years, leading to many hilarious \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=marshmallow+test\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube videos\u003c/a> (none of which are the original test subjects) and a lifetime’s work examining how various strategies can help both adults and children learn to delay gratification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the original marshmallow study, researchers spent time building up trust and rapport with their 4-year-old subjects before starting the experiment. The researcher then told the child that she was going to leave him in the room with a treat (cookie, pretzel or marshmallow) and if he waited to eat it until she returned, she would give him two marshmallows. Alternatively, the child could put an end to his misery by ringing the bell, at which point the researcher would return, but the child would get only the one treat. Mischel and his colleagues followed the test subjects over the next 50 years and found that those who were able to wait fared better on a variety of indices, including \u003ca href=\"http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/05/18/dont-2\" target=\"_blank\">higher SAT scores\u003c/a>, better ability to cope with stress and a lower body mass index.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">'To even want to delay gratification requires a trust expectation that's often not there for kids for whom self-control and delayed gratification is most difficult.'\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“One of the biggest determinators of choices of that kind is trust,” Mischel said at a Learning and the Brain conference in Boston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He is now a psychology professor at Columbia University. Critics of his work often point out that children living in low-income communities, many of whom have experienced discrimination or disrespect from society, \u003ca href=\"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027712001849\" target=\"_blank\">have no reason to trust those in positions of authority\u003c/a>. Those kids might scarf down the marshmallow, not because they have no self-control but because they have no reason to believe the researcher is telling the truth about a second marshmallow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mischel agrees that the importance of a trusting relationship between the adult and child is often overlooked in reporting about his research. He began studying that aspect \u003ca href=\"http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2012-10-17/what-does-the-marshmallow-test-actually-test\" target=\"_blank\">at the very beginning of this work\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To even want to delay gratification requires a trust expectation that’s often not there for kids for whom self-control and delayed gratification is most difficult,” Mischel said. For children whose worlds are unstable and unpredictable, the marshmallow test may be testing belief in authority as much as self-control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"480\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/G7LN96jEXHc\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But aside from the specifics of the marshmallow test, lots of research has shown the value of self-control to positive life outcomes. That’s why Mischel is trying to focus the conversation on strategies educators and parents can use to help kids build self-control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The value of self-control has been measured in lots of longitudinal studies,” said \u003ca href=\"https://psy.fsu.edu/faculty/baumeister.dp.html\" target=\"_blank\">Roy Baumeister\u003c/a>, a psychologist at Florida State University who studies self-control and helped debunk an earlier theory that self-esteem was the foundation of academic success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Self-control is the ability to override thoughts, impulses and emotions, and people who have it tend to do better in school and work. Baumeister said studies have shown people with high levels of self-control have better relationships, are happier, have less stress, are in better physical health, have better mental health and live longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baumeister’s work has also helped demonstrate that self-control is like a muscle -- it can be strengthened with exercise, but \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/21/magazine/do-you-suffer-from-decision-fatigue.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0\" target=\"_blank\">it also tires\u003c/a>. “You have one resource, willpower, and you can expend it on different things,” Baumeister said at a Learning and the Brain conference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So if a child uses up all his willpower controlling his emotions, he may be too depleted to show a lot of self-control at performing tasks. Additionally, making decisions and compromising use the same reserves of willpower. When people are depleted, they are more likely to default to old behaviors, less likely to compromise, more likely to follow impulses and less likely to trust others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Knowing how important self-control is for positive outcomes, but recognizing that many children are experiencing several demands for their self-control at all times, how can educators help students build up their self-control muscles so they don’t tire as quickly?\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nSTRATEGIES TO DELAY GRATIFICATION\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mischel says that his studies of tactics used by 4- and 5-year-olds hold true for older people as well. One of the biggest ones is self-distraction. During the marshmallow test, kids sit in that room by themselves with the coveted marshmallow in front of them, and they sing to themselves or imagine they are somewhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">'The critical thing is to make delayed consequences more visible, more complete, more consequential, and to make the immediate rewards less hot.'\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“It’s purposeful self-distraction with executive function,” Mischel said. “They have the goal in mind. They are actively inhibiting the responses. They are preventing hands from reaching out to take it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another common strategy kids use is self-distancing. Mischel described one boy who picked up the bell he would use to call the researcher back into the room and slowly, very carefully, moved it to the edge of the table as far from him as possible. Other kids pretended the marshmallow was a picture, instead of real food, making it seem less attractive. Mischel even worked with \"Sesame Street\" on a Cookie Monster skit that would show young kids that it pays to wait.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https://www.youtube.com/embed/XsC2W587_Fc\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the original marshmallow test has come \u003ca href=\"http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/02/19/just-let-them-eat-the-marshmallow.html\" target=\"_blank\">under fire\u003c/a> for its small size and homogenous makeup (all the kids were either children of Stanford faculty or graduate students), Mischel has continued delayed gratification studies with students in the South Bronx with similar results. He said the keys are to keep the goal in mind, to suppress responses and to monitor progress toward the goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All humans have what Mischel calls a “hot system” and a “cool system,” both of which are crucially important. The hot system is where the fight-or-flight syndrome comes from. It is emotional, simple, stress-induced, reflexive, fast, centered in the amygdala and draws on the limbic system. It’s fundamental to survival and it develops early. When the hot system goes up, the cool system goes down. Mischel said most kids living in difficult situations are forced into using their “hot system” most of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cool system is cognitive, complex, reflective and slow. It is based in the frontal lobe and hippocampus and develops later. It is attenuated by stress and is crucial to self-control. The two systems work at opposite purposes, but both are important to survival and success.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to helping students delay gratification and thus work on self-control, Mischel said his experiments show “you have to cool the now and heat the later.” In other words, things that are immediate stimulate the hot system, but delayed gratification requires the cool system. So, when trying to get a student to see the benefit of working hard all the way through school so he or she can get into college, educators have to help students see that delayed reward as “hot.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The critical thing is to make delayed consequences more visible, more complete, more consequential and to make the immediate rewards less hot,” Mischel said. When kids are stressed out, it’s much more difficult for them to keep long-term goals in mind because they are constantly activating their “hot” or stress-induced system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mischel has \u003ca href=\"http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/struggles-psychologist-studying-self-control\" target=\"_blank\">personal experience with the strategies he recommends\u003c/a>. He used to smoke three packs of cigarettes a day and often a pipe at night. He knew that smoking was bad for him, but that wasn’t enough to make the consequences feel real. One day he saw a man in the Stanford hospital getting ready for radiation. “That image is what allowed me to make the delayed consequences hot,” Mischel said. “Every time I reached for the cigarette, I remembered that image.” And he was able to quit smoking using that very personal image to help him delay gratification.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mischel suggests that to help students develop self-control, educators could spend a little time helping kids identify their own hot spots and developing strategies to mediate them. For example, if a student knows that texts from friends distract him from homework, then he’ll turn off his phone when he’s trying to focus. It’s a pre-determined “if/then” plan based on specific trigger points. But to make that plan, students have to know what the “if” is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The research makes it very clear that the human brain is far more educable than previously thought,” Mischel said. He sees this kind of individual mapping as a key to developing emotional intelligence and ultimately as a route to much more freedom, choice and agency. Rather than having instinct drive decisions, kids can learn to make the decisions they believe will benefit them in the long term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t want to train our children to be without hot emotionality, we just want them to be in control,” Mischel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Young people are actually getting better at delaying gratification and self-control, Mischel said. He points out that just as intelligence has been increasing over the past 60 years, so, too, have these other characteristics. He attributes the change to technology, and is particularly excited about \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/05/16/social-and-emotional-benefits-of-video-games-metacognition-and-relationships/\" target=\"_blank\">video games\u003c/a>, which he says require setting a goal, inhibiting interfering responses and using attention-control mechanisms to reach that goal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It may be a distraction from doing their arithmetic, but the games themselves can be enormously useful tools in enhancing executive function,” Mischel said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ultimately, he believes if educators can find productive ways to use his research in classrooms, they will also improve student motivation, which can’t be detached from the idea of student efficacy in meeting goals.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/mindshift/43326/research-based-strategies-to-help-children-develop-self-control",
"authors": [
"234"
],
"categories": [
"mindshift_192",
"mindshift_193"
],
"tags": [
"mindshift_20955",
"mindshift_20784",
"mindshift_1040",
"mindshift_20787",
"mindshift_46",
"mindshift_20954",
"mindshift_20956"
],
"featImg": "mindshift_43360",
"label": "mindshift"
},
"mindshift_42518": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "mindshift_42518",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "42518",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1445412510000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "mindshift"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1445412510,
"format": "standard",
"disqusTitle": "How to Spark Curiosity in Children Through Embracing Uncertainty",
"title": "How to Spark Curiosity in Children Through Embracing Uncertainty",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>In the classroom, subjects are often presented as settled and complete. Teachers lecture students on the causes of World War I, say, or the nature of matter, as if no further questioning is needed because all the answers have been found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In turn, students regurgitate what they’ve been told, confident they’ve learned all the facts and unaware of the mysteries that remain unexplored. Without insight into the holes in our knowledge, students mistakenly believe that some subjects are closed. They lose humility and curiosity in the face of this conceit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But our collective understanding of any given subject is never complete, according to Jamie Holmes, who has just written a book on the hidden benefits of uncertainty. In \"\u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Nonsense-The-Power-Not-Knowing/dp/0385348371\">Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing\u003c/a>,\" Holmes explores how the discomforting notions of ambiguity and uncertainty affect the way we think and behave. Confronting what we don’t know sometimes triggers curiosity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He wants students to grapple with uncertainty to spark their curiosity and better prepare them for the “real world,” where answers are seldom clear-cut or permanent. Whether exploring black holes or a Shakespearean sonnet, students should be comfortable challenging the received wisdom. There’s already a believer of the uncertain in science -- Columbia neuroscience professor Stuart Firestein, who argues that “\u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/24/opinion/the-case-for-teaching-ignorance.html?_r=0\">insightful ignorance\u003c/a>” \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.co.uk/books/dp/0199828075\">drives science\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re much more certain about facts than we should be,” Holmes said. “A lot of this will be challenged, and it should not be embarrassing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If students can be made to feel comfortable with uncertainty -- if they’re learning in an environment where ambiguity is welcome and they are encouraged to question facts -- then they are more apt to be curious and innovative in their thinking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Approaching knowledge this way is difficult for students and teachers, however, because ambiguity spurs unpleasant feelings. Indeed, studies show that the typical response to uncertainty is a rush for resolution, often prematurely, and heightened emotions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our minds crave closure, but when we latch onto it prematurely we miss beautiful and important moments along the way,” Holmes said, including the opportunity to explore new ideas or consider novel interpretations. And teachers have additional challenges in presenting facts as fluid: appearing less than certain about their field of expertise can feel risky in a classroom of merciless teenagers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But teachers who hope to inspire curiosity in their students, and to encourage tolerance for ambiguity, can take steps to introduce uncertainty into the classroom. Holmes offers several recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Address the emotional impact of uncertainty. \u003c/strong>“The emotions of learning are surprise, awe, interest and confusion,” Holmes said. But because confusion provokes discomfort, it should be discussed by teachers to help students handle the inevitable disquiet. “Students have to grow comfortable not just with the idea that failure is a part of innovation, but with the idea that confusion is, too,” Holmes writes. Teachers can help students cope with these feelings by acknowledging their emotional response and encouraging them to view ambiguity as a learning opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Assign projects that provoke uncertainty.\u003c/strong> One way to help students grow more comfortable with confusion is to assign projects that are likely to flummox them. Holmes identifies three techniques for doing so: inviting students to find mistakes; asking them to present arguments for alien viewpoints; and providing assignments that students will fail. “The best assignments should make students make mistakes, be confused and feel uncertain,\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Adopt a non-authoritarian teaching style to encourage exploration, challenge and revision. \u003c/strong>Teachers who instruct with a sense of humanity, curiosity and an appreciation for mystery are more apt to engage students in learning, Holmes explained. “Those with an outlook of authority and certainty don’t invite students in,” he said. Also, when teachers present themselves as experts imparting wisdom, students get the mistaken idea that subjects are closed. “Teachers should help students find ways to think and learn,” he said. “The best teachers are in awe of their subjects.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Emphasize the current topics of debate in a field. \u003c/strong>To give students a clearer sense of the mutability of facts, discuss the ongoing debates among academics and others on some “settled” subjects. Sharing what researchers, historians and theorists are arguing about now makes clear that questioning and challenging facts are what drive discovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Invite guest speakers to share the mysteries they’re exploring.\u003c/strong> In his class on ignorance, Columbia professor Firestein welcomes scientists across a spectrum of fields to talk about the unknowns they’re investigating. Chemists, statisticians, zoologists and others share with students the ambiguities that excite them, opening students’ minds to the vast unknowns waiting to be examined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Show how the process of discovery is often messy and non-linear. \u003c/strong>Rather than present breakthroughs as the logical result of a long trek toward understanding, teachers can share with students how discoveries are often made: through trial and error, missteps, happy accidents and chance. Firestein describes scientific discovery as “groping and probing and poking, and some bumbling and bungling, and then a switch is discovered, often by accident, and the light is lit.” All the poking around in the unknown, he adds, is what makes science exhilarating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How Could This Look At Home?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Mollie Cueva-Dabkoski was growing up, her mother took her to the library every week to read stories together. When the storytelling ended, her mother asked questions that challenged the narrative and pressed Mollie to reconsider the protagonist’s motives, or to rethink the gender norms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She pushed me to question the world around me,” Cueva-Dabkoski said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cueva-Dabkoski, however, was troubled by all that she didn’t know. Raised by a single mother in San Francisco, and educated at an underfunded public school nearby, she worried that her ignorance about all manner of subjects would interfere with her ability to perform at college. Cueva-Dabkoski had always been curious and driven, but she doubted whether she possessed sufficient intellectual tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Awareness of the gaps in her knowledge spurs Cueva-Dabkoski to learn. So, she decided, “I taught myself how to be a critical thinker.” Today, she’s a junior at Johns Hopkins University, majoring in sociology and public health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though Cueva-Dabkoski laments what she calls the “product-driven” nature of higher education, she continues to challenge and explore, inside the classroom and out. As a teenager, Cueva-Dabkoski began to make a list of concepts she wanted to understand by age 20, and she continues to work her way down the list. Some subjects on that list? String theory, democracy in Burma, the history of Bhutan. How to explain her wide-ranging curiosity? “There are big gaps in my knowledge,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
"disqusIdentifier": "42518 http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=42518",
"disqusUrl": "https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/10/21/how-to-spark-curiosity-in-children-by-embracing-uncertainty/",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1154,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 23
},
"modified": 1445412564,
"excerpt": "Teaching students how to confront what we don't know can trigger curiosity and lead to new discoveries, according to author Jamie Holmes. ",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Teaching students how to confront what we don't know can trigger curiosity and lead to new discoveries, according to author Jamie Holmes. ",
"title": "How to Spark Curiosity in Children Through Embracing Uncertainty | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "How to Spark Curiosity in Children Through Embracing Uncertainty",
"datePublished": "2015-10-21T00:28:30-07:00",
"dateModified": "2015-10-21T00:29:24-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "how-to-spark-curiosity-in-children-by-embracing-uncertainty",
"status": "publish",
"path": "/mindshift/42518/how-to-spark-curiosity-in-children-by-embracing-uncertainty",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In the classroom, subjects are often presented as settled and complete. Teachers lecture students on the causes of World War I, say, or the nature of matter, as if no further questioning is needed because all the answers have been found.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In turn, students regurgitate what they’ve been told, confident they’ve learned all the facts and unaware of the mysteries that remain unexplored. Without insight into the holes in our knowledge, students mistakenly believe that some subjects are closed. They lose humility and curiosity in the face of this conceit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But our collective understanding of any given subject is never complete, according to Jamie Holmes, who has just written a book on the hidden benefits of uncertainty. In \"\u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Nonsense-The-Power-Not-Knowing/dp/0385348371\">Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing\u003c/a>,\" Holmes explores how the discomforting notions of ambiguity and uncertainty affect the way we think and behave. Confronting what we don’t know sometimes triggers curiosity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He wants students to grapple with uncertainty to spark their curiosity and better prepare them for the “real world,” where answers are seldom clear-cut or permanent. Whether exploring black holes or a Shakespearean sonnet, students should be comfortable challenging the received wisdom. There’s already a believer of the uncertain in science -- Columbia neuroscience professor Stuart Firestein, who argues that “\u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/24/opinion/the-case-for-teaching-ignorance.html?_r=0\">insightful ignorance\u003c/a>” \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.co.uk/books/dp/0199828075\">drives science\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re much more certain about facts than we should be,” Holmes said. “A lot of this will be challenged, and it should not be embarrassing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If students can be made to feel comfortable with uncertainty -- if they’re learning in an environment where ambiguity is welcome and they are encouraged to question facts -- then they are more apt to be curious and innovative in their thinking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Approaching knowledge this way is difficult for students and teachers, however, because ambiguity spurs unpleasant feelings. Indeed, studies show that the typical response to uncertainty is a rush for resolution, often prematurely, and heightened emotions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our minds crave closure, but when we latch onto it prematurely we miss beautiful and important moments along the way,” Holmes said, including the opportunity to explore new ideas or consider novel interpretations. And teachers have additional challenges in presenting facts as fluid: appearing less than certain about their field of expertise can feel risky in a classroom of merciless teenagers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But teachers who hope to inspire curiosity in their students, and to encourage tolerance for ambiguity, can take steps to introduce uncertainty into the classroom. Holmes offers several recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Address the emotional impact of uncertainty. \u003c/strong>“The emotions of learning are surprise, awe, interest and confusion,” Holmes said. But because confusion provokes discomfort, it should be discussed by teachers to help students handle the inevitable disquiet. “Students have to grow comfortable not just with the idea that failure is a part of innovation, but with the idea that confusion is, too,” Holmes writes. Teachers can help students cope with these feelings by acknowledging their emotional response and encouraging them to view ambiguity as a learning opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Assign projects that provoke uncertainty.\u003c/strong> One way to help students grow more comfortable with confusion is to assign projects that are likely to flummox them. Holmes identifies three techniques for doing so: inviting students to find mistakes; asking them to present arguments for alien viewpoints; and providing assignments that students will fail. “The best assignments should make students make mistakes, be confused and feel uncertain,\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Adopt a non-authoritarian teaching style to encourage exploration, challenge and revision. \u003c/strong>Teachers who instruct with a sense of humanity, curiosity and an appreciation for mystery are more apt to engage students in learning, Holmes explained. “Those with an outlook of authority and certainty don’t invite students in,” he said. Also, when teachers present themselves as experts imparting wisdom, students get the mistaken idea that subjects are closed. “Teachers should help students find ways to think and learn,” he said. “The best teachers are in awe of their subjects.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Emphasize the current topics of debate in a field. \u003c/strong>To give students a clearer sense of the mutability of facts, discuss the ongoing debates among academics and others on some “settled” subjects. Sharing what researchers, historians and theorists are arguing about now makes clear that questioning and challenging facts are what drive discovery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Invite guest speakers to share the mysteries they’re exploring.\u003c/strong> In his class on ignorance, Columbia professor Firestein welcomes scientists across a spectrum of fields to talk about the unknowns they’re investigating. Chemists, statisticians, zoologists and others share with students the ambiguities that excite them, opening students’ minds to the vast unknowns waiting to be examined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Show how the process of discovery is often messy and non-linear. \u003c/strong>Rather than present breakthroughs as the logical result of a long trek toward understanding, teachers can share with students how discoveries are often made: through trial and error, missteps, happy accidents and chance. Firestein describes scientific discovery as “groping and probing and poking, and some bumbling and bungling, and then a switch is discovered, often by accident, and the light is lit.” All the poking around in the unknown, he adds, is what makes science exhilarating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How Could This Look At Home?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Mollie Cueva-Dabkoski was growing up, her mother took her to the library every week to read stories together. When the storytelling ended, her mother asked questions that challenged the narrative and pressed Mollie to reconsider the protagonist’s motives, or to rethink the gender norms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She pushed me to question the world around me,” Cueva-Dabkoski said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cueva-Dabkoski, however, was troubled by all that she didn’t know. Raised by a single mother in San Francisco, and educated at an underfunded public school nearby, she worried that her ignorance about all manner of subjects would interfere with her ability to perform at college. Cueva-Dabkoski had always been curious and driven, but she doubted whether she possessed sufficient intellectual tools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Awareness of the gaps in her knowledge spurs Cueva-Dabkoski to learn. So, she decided, “I taught myself how to be a critical thinker.” Today, she’s a junior at Johns Hopkins University, majoring in sociology and public health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Though Cueva-Dabkoski laments what she calls the “product-driven” nature of higher education, she continues to challenge and explore, inside the classroom and out. As a teenager, Cueva-Dabkoski began to make a list of concepts she wanted to understand by age 20, and she continues to work her way down the list. Some subjects on that list? String theory, democracy in Burma, the history of Bhutan. How to explain her wide-ranging curiosity? “There are big gaps in my knowledge,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/mindshift/42518/how-to-spark-curiosity-in-children-by-embracing-uncertainty",
"authors": [
"4613"
],
"categories": [
"mindshift_192",
"mindshift_20579"
],
"tags": [
"mindshift_1020",
"mindshift_20784",
"mindshift_1040",
"mindshift_20512",
"mindshift_797",
"mindshift_20772",
"mindshift_46",
"mindshift_943"
],
"featImg": "mindshift_42529",
"label": "mindshift"
},
"mindshift_41975": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "mindshift_41975",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "41975",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1441825176000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "mindshift"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1441825176,
"format": "standard",
"disqusTitle": "Understanding the History and Pervasive Myths Around Autism",
"title": "Understanding the History and Pervasive Myths Around Autism",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>In 1938, an Austrian pediatrician named Hans Asperger gave the first public talk on autism in history. Asperger was speaking to an audience of Nazis, and he feared that his patients — children who fell onto what we now call the autism spectrum — were in danger of being sent to Nazi extermination camps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Asperger spoke, he highlighted his \"most promising\" patients, a notion that would stick with the autistic spectrum for decades to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"That is where the idea of so-called high-functioning versus low-functioning autistic people comes from really — it comes from Asperger's attempt to save the lives of the children in his clinic,\" science writer Steve Silberman tells \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/02/436742377/neurotribes-examines-the-history-and-myths-of-the-autism-spectrum\">\u003cem>Fresh Air's\u003c/em> Terry Gross\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Silberman chronicles the history of autism and examines some of the myths surrounding our current understanding of the condition in his new book, \u003cem>NeuroTribes\u003c/em>. Along the way, he revisits Asperger's calculated efforts to save his patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Silberman shies away from using the terms high-functioning and low-functioning, because \"both of those terms can be off base,\" he says. But he praises Asperger's courage in speaking to the Nazis. \"I would literally weep while I was writing that chapter,\" he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>NeuroTribes\u003c/em> also explores how a 1987 expansion of the medical definition of autism (which was previously much narrower and led to less frequent diagnoses) contributed to the perception that there was an autism epidemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-41979 alignright\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/NeuroTribes-e1441820577386.jpg\" alt=\"NeuroTribes\" width=\"200\" height=\"302\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking ahead, Silberman says that while much of today's autism research focuses on finding a cause for the condition, society might be better served if some of the research funds were directed instead toward helping people live with autism. \"I think that society really needs to do a bit of soul-searching about how we're dealing with autism,\" he says. \"We need to get over our obsession with causes, because we've been researching the cause of schizophrenia for decades and we still don't know what causes schizophrenia exactly.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>Interview Highlights\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On his problem with classifying people on the autism spectrum as high-functioning and low-functioning\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I personally avoid using terms like high-functioning and low-functioning, which are used almost universally. The reason why I avoid it is because I've talked to a lot of autistic people over the years and I have autistic friends by now after working on this book for five years and what they've told me, which I earnestly believe is true, is that people who are classified as high-functioning are often struggling in ways that are not obvious whereas science has shown that people who are classified as low-functioning often have talents and skills that are not obvious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On Hans Asperger's discovery\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What [Hans] Asperger discovered was not what he is usually given credit for, which is this condition called Asperger syndrome — what Asperger and his colleagues at the University of Vienna in the 1930s really discovered is what we now call the autism spectrum and they called it the \"autistic continuum.\" And what that is, is they discovered that autism was a lifelong condition lasting from birth to death that embraced a very wide variety of clinical presentations. So Asperger saw children, who for instance, could not speak and would probably never be able to live independently without constant care and might end up in institutions in Viennese society at the time. He also discovered chatty people who became professors of astronomy and who would talk at length about their special passions for numbers or chemistry, etc. So what he discovered was not just this so-called high-functioning end of the spectrum — he discovered the entire spectrum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On Asperger's clinic after the Nazis invaded Vienna \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The children in Asperger's clinic immediately became targets of the Nazi eugenic programs and, in fact, one of Asperger's former colleagues was actually the leader of a secret extermination program against disabled children that became the dry run for the Holocaust. So the Nazis actually developed methods of mass killing by practicing on disabled children and children with hereditary conditions like autism (even though it didn't have a name yet), epilepsy, schizophrenia. So immediately Asperger had to figure out ways of protecting the children in his clinic. ... One of the ways he did that was to present to the Nazis in the very first public talk on autism in history his \"most promising cases\" and that is where the idea of so-called high functioning versus low-functioning autistic people comes from really — it comes from Asperger's attempt to save the lives of the children in his clinic. ...\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, the Gestapo came to his clinic three times to arrest Asperger and to ship the children in his clinic off to concentration camps or kill them at a so-called children's killing ward. But [the Gestapo officer] had affection for Asperger, he thought he was very good at what he did, so he saved Asperger's life and so that's how Asperger survived the war.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On role the movie \u003cem>Rain Man\u003c/em> played in increasing cultural awareness of autism \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1988, most people in the world who had never seen an autistic adult saw one for the first time, and that person was Dustin Hoffman's character of Raymond Babbitt in the Academy Award-winning film \u003cem>Rain Man\u003c/em>. It was an incredible success and for parents of autistic children it meant the end of having to explain to their neighbors, \"No, no, no, our child isn't artistic, they're autistic.\" Virtually no one outside of the community of families and clinicians had heard of autism before \u003cem>Rain Man,\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Rain Man\u003c/em> introduced this incredibly beguiling, eccentric, instantly recognizable character. ...\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-41977\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/neurotribes-author-photo-courtesy-of-keith-karraker-59923c03c7b85b242cc6ed987fae9af60f557c75-e1441823670392.jpg\" alt=\"Steve Silberman's articles have been published in Wired, The New Yorker, Nature and Salon.\" width=\"200\" height=\"150\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I had mothers tell me that when they were out in public with their kids, if their kids started having a difficult moment, that they would often get sour looks from other parents, but literally, within days of \u003cem>Rain Man\u003c/em>'s release, other parents would inquire, \"Oh, is your child autistic? Like Rain Man?\" So \u003cem>Rain Man\u003c/em> created this wave of cultural awareness of autism more than any of the autism organizations had been able to accomplish in decades before that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the connection between vaccines and autism\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I completely understand why parents would believe that their child had been rendered autistic by a vaccine for several reasons: one is that autism often doesn't become obvious to both clinicians and parents and teachers and everybody until a child is 2 or 3, which is exactly the age when many children are receiving their vaccinations. Also, the Internet was a new thing at the time, and so the word that there was a theory that vaccines cause autism was spreading rapidly through the same communities in which autism parents were finally able to talk to each other online. So while people tend to stereotype what are now call \"anti-vaxxers\" [as] these kind of low information people, et cetera, in fact, the people who believed that were often highly informed and read papers obsessively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the problem is that nobody had explained to them what had happened with the diagnosis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On how society deals with autism\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Autism is a highly complex and heterogeneous condition that is probably caused by a highly complex and heterogeneous series of interactions between genes and the environment. But one of the arguments that my book makes is that we think that our society is taking autism seriously and dealing with the challenges that it presents by pouring millions of dollars into it. [They'll say,] \"Let's find more candidate genes.\" Well, we already have 1,000. \"Let's find more potential environmental triggers.\" Well, everything from antidepressants in the water supply to air pollution has been identified as possibly contributing to autism. What I say is that at least some of that money should be redirected to things like helping autistic adults live more satisfying, healthier and safer lives, or helping families get the services they need or helping families get a quicker diagnosis for their kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2015 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/02/436742377/neurotribes-examines-the-history-and-myths-of-the-autism-spectrum/\">http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\u003c/a>.\u003c/div>\n\n",
"disqusIdentifier": "41975 http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=41975",
"disqusUrl": "https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/09/09/understanding-the-history-and-pervasive-myths-around-autism/",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 1371,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 26
},
"modified": 1441825434,
"excerpt": "Steve Silberman talks about how Nazi extermination plans and a discredited scientific paper about childhood vaccines shaped our current understanding of autism.",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Steve Silberman talks about how Nazi extermination plans and a discredited scientific paper about childhood vaccines shaped our current understanding of autism.",
"title": "Understanding the History and Pervasive Myths Around Autism | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "Understanding the History and Pervasive Myths Around Autism",
"datePublished": "2015-09-09T11:59:36-07:00",
"dateModified": "2015-09-09T12:03:54-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "understanding-the-history-and-pervasive-myths-around-autism",
"status": "publish",
"nprApiLink": "http://api.npr.org/query?id=436742377&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004",
"nprByline": "NPR Staff",
"nprStoryDate": "Wed, 02 Sep 2015 13:48:00 -0400",
"nprLastModifiedDate": "Fri, 04 Sep 2015 16:35:02 -0400",
"nprHtmlLink": "http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/02/436742377/neurotribes-examines-the-history-and-myths-of-the-autism-spectrum?ft=nprml&f=436742377",
"nprAudio": "http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/fa/2015/09/20150902_fa_01.mp3?orgId=427869011&topicId=1128&d=2203&p=13&story=436742377&t=progseg&e=436629797&seg=1&ft=nprml&f=436742377",
"nprAudioM3u": "http://api.npr.org/m3u/1436940063-25ac6d.m3u?orgId=427869011&topicId=1128&d=2203&p=13&story=436742377&t=progseg&e=436629797&seg=1&ft=nprml&f=436742377",
"nprStoryId": "436742377",
"nprRetrievedStory": "1",
"nprPubDate": "Fri, 04 Sep 2015 16:35:00 -0400",
"path": "/mindshift/41975/understanding-the-history-and-pervasive-myths-around-autism",
"audioUrl": "http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/fa/2015/09/20150902_fa_01.mp3?orgId=427869011&topicId=1128&d=2203&p=13&story=436742377&t=progseg&e=436629797&seg=1&ft=nprml&f=436742377",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In 1938, an Austrian pediatrician named Hans Asperger gave the first public talk on autism in history. Asperger was speaking to an audience of Nazis, and he feared that his patients — children who fell onto what we now call the autism spectrum — were in danger of being sent to Nazi extermination camps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As Asperger spoke, he highlighted his \"most promising\" patients, a notion that would stick with the autistic spectrum for decades to come.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"That is where the idea of so-called high-functioning versus low-functioning autistic people comes from really — it comes from Asperger's attempt to save the lives of the children in his clinic,\" science writer Steve Silberman tells \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/02/436742377/neurotribes-examines-the-history-and-myths-of-the-autism-spectrum\">\u003cem>Fresh Air's\u003c/em> Terry Gross\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Silberman chronicles the history of autism and examines some of the myths surrounding our current understanding of the condition in his new book, \u003cem>NeuroTribes\u003c/em>. Along the way, he revisits Asperger's calculated efforts to save his patients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Silberman shies away from using the terms high-functioning and low-functioning, because \"both of those terms can be off base,\" he says. But he praises Asperger's courage in speaking to the Nazis. \"I would literally weep while I was writing that chapter,\" he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>NeuroTribes\u003c/em> also explores how a 1987 expansion of the medical definition of autism (which was previously much narrower and led to less frequent diagnoses) contributed to the perception that there was an autism epidemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-41979 alignright\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/NeuroTribes-e1441820577386.jpg\" alt=\"NeuroTribes\" width=\"200\" height=\"302\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Looking ahead, Silberman says that while much of today's autism research focuses on finding a cause for the condition, society might be better served if some of the research funds were directed instead toward helping people live with autism. \"I think that society really needs to do a bit of soul-searching about how we're dealing with autism,\" he says. \"We need to get over our obsession with causes, because we've been researching the cause of schizophrenia for decades and we still don't know what causes schizophrenia exactly.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch3>Interview Highlights\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On his problem with classifying people on the autism spectrum as high-functioning and low-functioning\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I personally avoid using terms like high-functioning and low-functioning, which are used almost universally. The reason why I avoid it is because I've talked to a lot of autistic people over the years and I have autistic friends by now after working on this book for five years and what they've told me, which I earnestly believe is true, is that people who are classified as high-functioning are often struggling in ways that are not obvious whereas science has shown that people who are classified as low-functioning often have talents and skills that are not obvious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On Hans Asperger's discovery\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What [Hans] Asperger discovered was not what he is usually given credit for, which is this condition called Asperger syndrome — what Asperger and his colleagues at the University of Vienna in the 1930s really discovered is what we now call the autism spectrum and they called it the \"autistic continuum.\" And what that is, is they discovered that autism was a lifelong condition lasting from birth to death that embraced a very wide variety of clinical presentations. So Asperger saw children, who for instance, could not speak and would probably never be able to live independently without constant care and might end up in institutions in Viennese society at the time. He also discovered chatty people who became professors of astronomy and who would talk at length about their special passions for numbers or chemistry, etc. So what he discovered was not just this so-called high-functioning end of the spectrum — he discovered the entire spectrum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On Asperger's clinic after the Nazis invaded Vienna \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The children in Asperger's clinic immediately became targets of the Nazi eugenic programs and, in fact, one of Asperger's former colleagues was actually the leader of a secret extermination program against disabled children that became the dry run for the Holocaust. So the Nazis actually developed methods of mass killing by practicing on disabled children and children with hereditary conditions like autism (even though it didn't have a name yet), epilepsy, schizophrenia. So immediately Asperger had to figure out ways of protecting the children in his clinic. ... One of the ways he did that was to present to the Nazis in the very first public talk on autism in history his \"most promising cases\" and that is where the idea of so-called high functioning versus low-functioning autistic people comes from really — it comes from Asperger's attempt to save the lives of the children in his clinic. ...\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, the Gestapo came to his clinic three times to arrest Asperger and to ship the children in his clinic off to concentration camps or kill them at a so-called children's killing ward. But [the Gestapo officer] had affection for Asperger, he thought he was very good at what he did, so he saved Asperger's life and so that's how Asperger survived the war.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On role the movie \u003cem>Rain Man\u003c/em> played in increasing cultural awareness of autism \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1988, most people in the world who had never seen an autistic adult saw one for the first time, and that person was Dustin Hoffman's character of Raymond Babbitt in the Academy Award-winning film \u003cem>Rain Man\u003c/em>. It was an incredible success and for parents of autistic children it meant the end of having to explain to their neighbors, \"No, no, no, our child isn't artistic, they're autistic.\" Virtually no one outside of the community of families and clinicians had heard of autism before \u003cem>Rain Man,\u003c/em> and \u003cem>Rain Man\u003c/em> introduced this incredibly beguiling, eccentric, instantly recognizable character. ...\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-41977\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2015/09/neurotribes-author-photo-courtesy-of-keith-karraker-59923c03c7b85b242cc6ed987fae9af60f557c75-e1441823670392.jpg\" alt=\"Steve Silberman's articles have been published in Wired, The New Yorker, Nature and Salon.\" width=\"200\" height=\"150\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I had mothers tell me that when they were out in public with their kids, if their kids started having a difficult moment, that they would often get sour looks from other parents, but literally, within days of \u003cem>Rain Man\u003c/em>'s release, other parents would inquire, \"Oh, is your child autistic? Like Rain Man?\" So \u003cem>Rain Man\u003c/em> created this wave of cultural awareness of autism more than any of the autism organizations had been able to accomplish in decades before that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On the connection between vaccines and autism\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I completely understand why parents would believe that their child had been rendered autistic by a vaccine for several reasons: one is that autism often doesn't become obvious to both clinicians and parents and teachers and everybody until a child is 2 or 3, which is exactly the age when many children are receiving their vaccinations. Also, the Internet was a new thing at the time, and so the word that there was a theory that vaccines cause autism was spreading rapidly through the same communities in which autism parents were finally able to talk to each other online. So while people tend to stereotype what are now call \"anti-vaxxers\" [as] these kind of low information people, et cetera, in fact, the people who believed that were often highly informed and read papers obsessively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the problem is that nobody had explained to them what had happened with the diagnosis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>On how society deals with autism\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Autism is a highly complex and heterogeneous condition that is probably caused by a highly complex and heterogeneous series of interactions between genes and the environment. But one of the arguments that my book makes is that we think that our society is taking autism seriously and dealing with the challenges that it presents by pouring millions of dollars into it. [They'll say,] \"Let's find more candidate genes.\" Well, we already have 1,000. \"Let's find more potential environmental triggers.\" Well, everything from antidepressants in the water supply to air pollution has been identified as possibly contributing to autism. What I say is that at least some of that money should be redirected to things like helping autistic adults live more satisfying, healthier and safer lives, or helping families get the services they need or helping families get a quicker diagnosis for their kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2015 Fresh Air. To see more, visit \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/09/02/436742377/neurotribes-examines-the-history-and-myths-of-the-autism-spectrum/\">http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/\u003c/a>.\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/mindshift/41975/understanding-the-history-and-pervasive-myths-around-autism",
"authors": [
"byline_mindshift_41975"
],
"categories": [
"mindshift_194"
],
"tags": [
"mindshift_184",
"mindshift_46"
],
"featImg": "mindshift_41976",
"label": "mindshift"
},
"mindshift_41218": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "mindshift_41218",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "41218",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1437483072000
]
},
"parent": 0,
"labelTerm": {
"site": "mindshift"
},
"blocks": [],
"publishDate": 1437483072,
"format": "standard",
"disqusTitle": "How Teaching With Symmetry Improves Math Understanding",
"title": "How Teaching With Symmetry Improves Math Understanding",
"headTitle": "MindShift | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>There's a part of the brain that enables us to perceive magnitude -- we can compare loudness when hearing different tones or compare the number of dots in a group at a glance. Neuroscientists have identified this region responsible for perceptual comparison (the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intraparietal_sulcus\" target=\"_blank\">intraparietal sulcus\u003c/a>) as linked to symbolic comparisons, including integers in math. That discovery led scientists to realize that symmetry plays a big role in how humans compare integers.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">'On these problems where you have to learn new things, suddenly you see that symmetry stuff showing up and it's basically because kids had a much better structure to organize new ideas and new information.'\u003ccite>Dan Schwartz, Director of Stanford AAALab\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Building on this background research, Stanford education researchers tested a teaching strategy explicitly focused on using symmetry to teach integers to fourth-graders. They wanted to see if recruiting the visual symmetry parts of the brain would improve students’ facility and understanding of the concept. \u003ca href=\"http://aaalab.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tsang2015LearningToSeeLessThanNothing.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Their findings\u003c/a>, published in \"Cognition and Instruction\" in May, indicate that teaching with symmetry could have a big impact not just on students’ understanding of integers, but also on more advanced concepts that go well beyond the scope of instruction as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Finding a fundamental discovery in neuroscience about how the brain is processing these numbers led us to realize the instruction needs to change,” said Daniel Schwartz, director of Stanford’s \u003ca href=\"http://aaalab.stanford.edu/\" target=\"_blank\">AAALab\u003c/a> and one of the authors of the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When people are asked to find the distance between a negative integer and a positive integer oriented in a blank space, they are able to do so much more quickly when the numbers are spaced around zero. For example, people can more quickly calculate the difference between -2 and 3 than they can -5 and 3. Furthermore, an fMRI scan of the brain while this calculation is taking place reveals that visual symmetry is in play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_41239\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-41239 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-400x225.jpg\" alt=\"Researchers from Stanford's AAALab built a manipulative to emphasize symmetry and tested it on 4th graders.\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-400x225.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-800x450.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-1400x788.jpg 1400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Researchers from Stanford's AAALab built a manipulative to emphasize symmetry and tested it on fourth-graders. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Jessica Tsang)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In math instruction “nobody had been focusing on the significance of zero, which is the reflection point,” Schwartz said. There are two common instructional methods used to teach integers in current curricula: the first uses distances on a number line, asking students to jump forward and backward between integers. The other uses the idea of cancellation, where students are taught that positive and negative numbers represent opposite quantities that cancel each other out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The AAALab researchers split students into three groups and used these two accepted instructional models to teach integers to two of the groups. The third group used a custom-built manipulative that bends at zero so students could visually see the symmetry. All the groups played with hands-on manipulatives for a while to get the hang of the idea and then practiced problems using the condition they had been taught on computer games to increase their facility. Schwartz called this practice time “increasing the dosage.” At the end, researchers gave them all the same test.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=\"0WGscchUQTkXn2ClRWJuo8zQNzsK35gD\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students in all three conditions performed well on the straightforward symbolic problems on the test, the core of the material that had been taught. Schwartz said that’s good because it shows that all the instruction given was good, and variables like poor teaching did not influence the results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The difference showed up on bigger problems, harder problems, where you really had to start organizing the numbers in your head,” Schwartz said. “You couldn’t just do fact retrieval.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, one question asked: In a Tug of War game, the red team has five people and the blue team has three people. The blue team thought that was unfair, so they added four more players to their team. How many players does the red team now need to make the teams even? Another question asked about negative and positive fractions. Even without understanding fractions, students correctly found the mirrored version.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On these problems where you have to learn new things, suddenly you see that symmetry stuff showing up and it’s basically because kids had a much better structure to organize new ideas and new information,” Schwartz explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://aaalab.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tsang2015LearningToSeeLessThanNothing.pdf\">\u003cimg class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-41224\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/Screen-shot-2015-07-17-at-1.39.18-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen shot 2015-07-17 at 1.39.18 PM\" width=\"515\" height=\"249\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/Screen-shot-2015-07-17-at-1.39.18-PM.png 515w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/Screen-shot-2015-07-17-at-1.39.18-PM-400x193.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 515px) 100vw, 515px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, even better in his mind, the test included a few questions that would be hard to solve using the symmetry method the test group learned. As Schwartz hoped, the students who were using the symmetry methods struggled with those problems. He said that’s good because it proves that the intervention improved their knowledge in a specific way, not just generally. The prowess the symmetry condition students showed on more difficult tasks and even pre-algebraic tasks was not a halo effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really showed [the intervention] improved them on many things we really care about and made them worse at something that we don’t care about,” Schwartz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study points to a clear instructional method that could improve student learning not just on simple integer problems, but on many other concepts using symmetry. \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/03/26/why-kids-need-to-move-touch-and-experience-to-learn/\" target=\"_blank\">Students often struggle with the idea of equivalence\u003c/a>, but recruiting symmetry could provide the structure they need to grasp this concept that is so central to algebra.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next step will be for someone to go out and build manipulatives that bend at 0, like the ones Schwartz’s lab fashioned for this experiment. He thinks it’s possible a computer program could simulate this idea as well, but it would need to make sure the student’s eyes were following the hands and focusing on the point of inflection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_41251\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-41251\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives.jpeg\" alt=\"Researchers from Stanford's AAALab built a manipulative to emphasize symmetry and tested it on 4th graders.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives.jpeg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives-400x225.jpeg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives-800x450.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives-1440x810.jpeg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives-1400x788.jpeg 1400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives-1180x664.jpeg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives-960x540.jpeg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Researchers from Stanford's AAALab built a manipulative to emphasize symmetry and tested it on 4th graders. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Jessica Tsang)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n",
"disqusIdentifier": "41218 http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/?p=41218",
"disqusUrl": "https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/07/21/how-teaching-with-symmetry-improves-math-understanding/",
"stats": {
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"hasAudio": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"wordCount": 979,
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"paragraphCount": 18
},
"modified": 1437483072,
"excerpt": "Education researchers at Stanford have discovered that symmetry is key to how kids understand positive and negative integers.",
"headData": {
"twImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twDescription": "",
"description": "Education researchers at Stanford have discovered that symmetry is key to how kids understand positive and negative integers.",
"title": "How Teaching With Symmetry Improves Math Understanding | KQED",
"ogDescription": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"headline": "How Teaching With Symmetry Improves Math Understanding",
"datePublished": "2015-07-21T05:51:12-07:00",
"dateModified": "2015-07-21T05:51:12-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png"
}
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "how-teaching-with-symmetry-improves-math-understanding",
"status": "publish",
"path": "/mindshift/41218/how-teaching-with-symmetry-improves-math-understanding",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>There's a part of the brain that enables us to perceive magnitude -- we can compare loudness when hearing different tones or compare the number of dots in a group at a glance. Neuroscientists have identified this region responsible for perceptual comparison (the \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intraparietal_sulcus\" target=\"_blank\">intraparietal sulcus\u003c/a>) as linked to symbolic comparisons, including integers in math. That discovery led scientists to realize that symmetry plays a big role in how humans compare integers.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">'On these problems where you have to learn new things, suddenly you see that symmetry stuff showing up and it's basically because kids had a much better structure to organize new ideas and new information.'\u003ccite>Dan Schwartz, Director of Stanford AAALab\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Building on this background research, Stanford education researchers tested a teaching strategy explicitly focused on using symmetry to teach integers to fourth-graders. They wanted to see if recruiting the visual symmetry parts of the brain would improve students’ facility and understanding of the concept. \u003ca href=\"http://aaalab.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tsang2015LearningToSeeLessThanNothing.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Their findings\u003c/a>, published in \"Cognition and Instruction\" in May, indicate that teaching with symmetry could have a big impact not just on students’ understanding of integers, but also on more advanced concepts that go well beyond the scope of instruction as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Finding a fundamental discovery in neuroscience about how the brain is processing these numbers led us to realize the instruction needs to change,” said Daniel Schwartz, director of Stanford’s \u003ca href=\"http://aaalab.stanford.edu/\" target=\"_blank\">AAALab\u003c/a> and one of the authors of the study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When people are asked to find the distance between a negative integer and a positive integer oriented in a blank space, they are able to do so much more quickly when the numbers are spaced around zero. For example, people can more quickly calculate the difference between -2 and 3 than they can -5 and 3. Furthermore, an fMRI scan of the brain while this calculation is taking place reveals that visual symmetry is in play.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_41239\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-41239 size-thumbnail\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-400x225.jpg\" alt=\"Researchers from Stanford's AAALab built a manipulative to emphasize symmetry and tested it on 4th graders.\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-400x225.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-800x450.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-1400x788.jpg 1400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/BlocksRig-002-960x540.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Researchers from Stanford's AAALab built a manipulative to emphasize symmetry and tested it on fourth-graders. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Jessica Tsang)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In math instruction “nobody had been focusing on the significance of zero, which is the reflection point,” Schwartz said. There are two common instructional methods used to teach integers in current curricula: the first uses distances on a number line, asking students to jump forward and backward between integers. The other uses the idea of cancellation, where students are taught that positive and negative numbers represent opposite quantities that cancel each other out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The AAALab researchers split students into three groups and used these two accepted instructional models to teach integers to two of the groups. The third group used a custom-built manipulative that bends at zero so students could visually see the symmetry. All the groups played with hands-on manipulatives for a while to get the hang of the idea and then practiced problems using the condition they had been taught on computer games to increase their facility. Schwartz called this practice time “increasing the dosage.” At the end, researchers gave them all the same test.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students in all three conditions performed well on the straightforward symbolic problems on the test, the core of the material that had been taught. Schwartz said that’s good because it shows that all the instruction given was good, and variables like poor teaching did not influence the results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The difference showed up on bigger problems, harder problems, where you really had to start organizing the numbers in your head,” Schwartz said. “You couldn’t just do fact retrieval.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, one question asked: In a Tug of War game, the red team has five people and the blue team has three people. The blue team thought that was unfair, so they added four more players to their team. How many players does the red team now need to make the teams even? Another question asked about negative and positive fractions. Even without understanding fractions, students correctly found the mirrored version.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On these problems where you have to learn new things, suddenly you see that symmetry stuff showing up and it’s basically because kids had a much better structure to organize new ideas and new information,” Schwartz explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"http://aaalab.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Tsang2015LearningToSeeLessThanNothing.pdf\">\u003cimg class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-41224\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/Screen-shot-2015-07-17-at-1.39.18-PM.png\" alt=\"Screen shot 2015-07-17 at 1.39.18 PM\" width=\"515\" height=\"249\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/Screen-shot-2015-07-17-at-1.39.18-PM.png 515w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/Screen-shot-2015-07-17-at-1.39.18-PM-400x193.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 515px) 100vw, 515px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And, even better in his mind, the test included a few questions that would be hard to solve using the symmetry method the test group learned. As Schwartz hoped, the students who were using the symmetry methods struggled with those problems. He said that’s good because it proves that the intervention improved their knowledge in a specific way, not just generally. The prowess the symmetry condition students showed on more difficult tasks and even pre-algebraic tasks was not a halo effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really showed [the intervention] improved them on many things we really care about and made them worse at something that we don’t care about,” Schwartz said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The study points to a clear instructional method that could improve student learning not just on simple integer problems, but on many other concepts using symmetry. \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/03/26/why-kids-need-to-move-touch-and-experience-to-learn/\" target=\"_blank\">Students often struggle with the idea of equivalence\u003c/a>, but recruiting symmetry could provide the structure they need to grasp this concept that is so central to algebra.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next step will be for someone to go out and build manipulatives that bend at 0, like the ones Schwartz’s lab fashioned for this experiment. He thinks it’s possible a computer program could simulate this idea as well, but it would need to make sure the student’s eyes were following the hands and focusing on the point of inflection.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_41251\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-41251\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives.jpeg\" alt=\"Researchers from Stanford's AAALab built a manipulative to emphasize symmetry and tested it on 4th graders.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives.jpeg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives-400x225.jpeg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives-800x450.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives-1440x810.jpeg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives-1400x788.jpeg 1400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives-1180x664.jpeg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2015/07/manipulatives-960x540.jpeg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Researchers from Stanford's AAALab built a manipulative to emphasize symmetry and tested it on 4th graders. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Jessica Tsang)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/mindshift/41218/how-teaching-with-symmetry-improves-math-understanding",
"authors": [
"234"
],
"categories": [
"mindshift_193"
],
"tags": [
"mindshift_767",
"mindshift_20784",
"mindshift_1040",
"mindshift_392",
"mindshift_46"
],
"featImg": "mindshift_41248",
"label": "mindshift"
}
},
"podcastsReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"podcasts": {}
},
"radioProgramsReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"radioPrograms": {}
},
"radioSearchSegmentsReducer": {},
"programsReducer": {
"all-things-considered": {
"id": "all-things-considered",
"title": "All Things Considered",
"info": "Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/All-Things-Considered-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/all-things-considered"
},
"american-suburb-podcast": {
"id": "american-suburb-podcast",
"title": "American Suburb: The Podcast",
"tagline": "The flip side of gentrification, told through one town",
"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 19
},
"link": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"
}
},
"baycurious": {
"id": "baycurious",
"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Bay Curious",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/baycurious",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 3
},
"link": "/podcasts/baycurious",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9a90d476-aa04-455d-9a4c-0871ed6216d4/bay-curious",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"
}
},
"bbc-world-service": {
"id": "bbc-world-service",
"title": "BBC World Service",
"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-the-california-report/id79681292",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432285393/the-california-report",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-the-california-report-podcast-8838",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcram/feed/podcast"
}
},
"californiareportmagazine": {
"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Magazine-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report Magazine",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 10
},
"link": "/californiareportmagazine",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/564733126/the-california-report-magazine",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-california-report-magazine",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/feed/podcast"
}
},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
"tagline": "Your irreverent guide to the trends redefining our world",
"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/CAT_2_Tile-scaled.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Close All Tabs",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 1
},
"link": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/close-all-tabs/id214663465",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC6993880386",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/92d9d4ac-67a3-4eed-b10a-fb45d45b1ef2/close-all-tabs",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6LAJFHnGK1pYXYzv6SIol6?si=deb0cae19813417c"
}
},
"code-switch-life-kit": {
"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
"airtime": "SUN 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"
}
},
"commonwealth-club": {
"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Commonwealth-Club-of-California-p1060/"
}
},
"forum": {
"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/forum",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-forum/id73329719",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432307980/forum",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-forum-podcast",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9557381633"
}
},
"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fresh-Air-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Fresh-Air-p17/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
}
},
"here-and-now": {
"id": "here-and-now",
"title": "Here & Now",
"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
"airtime": "MON-THU 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Here-And-Now-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/here-and-now",
"subsdcribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=426698661",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Here--Now-p211/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-brain/id1028908750?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"
}
},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/How-I-Built-This-p910896/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
"imageAlt": "KQED Hyphenación",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hyphenaci%C3%B3n/id1191591838",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
"youtube": "https://www.youtube.com/c/kqedarts",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/790253322/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/jerrybrown/feed/podcast/",
"tuneIn": "http://tun.in/pjGcK",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/54C1dmuyFyKMFttY6X2j6r?si=K8SgRCoISNK6ZbjpXrX5-w",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/44420f75-3b0e-4301-ab3b-16da6b09e543/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown"
}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Latino-USA-p621/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201853034&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/APM-Marketplace-p88/",
"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"
}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/onourwatch",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0OLWoyizopu6tY1XiuX70x",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-Our-Watch-p1436229/",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
}
},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Political Breakdown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-breakdown/id1327641087",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/political-breakdown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/07RVyIjIdk2WDuVehvBMoN",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/political-breakdown/feed/podcast"
}
},
"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
}
},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pri.org/programs/the-world",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "PRI"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pri-the-world",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pris-the-world-latest-edition/id278196007?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/PRIs-The-World-p24/",
"rss": "http://feeds.feedburner.com/pri/theworld"
}
},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
"airtime": "SUN 12am-1am, SAT 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/radiolab1400.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/radiolab/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/radiolab",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radiolab/id152249110?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/RadioLab-p68032/",
"rss": "https://feeds.wnyc.org/radiolab"
}
},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
"airtime": "SAT 4pm-5pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/reveal300px.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/reveal",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/reveal/id886009669",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Reveal-p679597/",
"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
}
},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rightnowish-Podcast-Tile-500x500-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Rightnowish with Pendarvis Harshaw",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 16
},
"link": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/programs/rightnowish/feed/podcast",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMxMjU5MTY3NDc4",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I"
}
},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
"airtime": "FRI 11am-1pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Science-Friday-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/science-friday",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/science-friday",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=73329284&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Science-Friday-p394/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/science-friday"
}
},
"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
"airtime": "SAT 1pm-2pm, 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Snap-Judgment-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Snap Judgment",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 4
},
"link": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/snap-judgment/id283657561",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/449018144/snap-judgment",
"stitcher": "https://www.pandora.com/podcast/snap-judgment/PC:241?source=stitcher-sunset",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3Cct7ZWmxHNAtLgBTqjC5v",
"rss": "https://snap.feed.snapjudgment.org/"
}
},
"soldout": {
"id": "soldout",
"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Sold-Out-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/soldout",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 13
},
"link": "/podcasts/soldout",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/911586047/s-o-l-d-o-u-t-a-new-future-for-housing",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america/id1531354937",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/soldout",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/38dTBSk2ISFoPiyYNoKn1X",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america",
"tunein": "https://tunein.com/radio/SOLD-OUT-Rethinking-Housing-in-America-p1365871/"
}
},
"spooked": {
"id": "spooked",
"title": "Spooked",
"tagline": "True-life supernatural stories",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Spooked-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Spooked",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 7
},
"link": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spooked/id1279361017",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/549547848/snap-judgment-presents-spooked",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/76571Rfl3m7PLJQZKQIGCT",
"rss": "https://feeds.simplecast.com/TBotaapn"
}
},
"tech-nation": {
"id": "tech-nation",
"title": "Tech Nation Radio Podcast",
"info": "Tech Nation is a weekly public radio program, hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn. Founded in 1993, it has grown from a simple interview show to a multi-faceted production, featuring conversations with noted technology and science leaders, and a weekly science and technology-related commentary.",
"airtime": "FRI 10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Tech-Nation-Radio-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://technation.podomatic.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "Tech Nation Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tech-nation",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://technation.podomatic.com/rss2.xml"
}
},
"ted-radio-hour": {
"id": "ted-radio-hour",
"title": "TED Radio Hour",
"info": "The TED Radio Hour is a journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ways to think and create.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm, SAT 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/tedRadioHour.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/?showDate=2018-06-22",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/ted-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/8vsS",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=523121474&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/TED-Radio-Hour-p418021/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510298/podcast.xml"
}
},
"thebay": {
"id": "thebay",
"title": "The Bay",
"tagline": "Local news to keep you rooted",
"info": "Host Devin Katayama walks you through the biggest story of the day with reporters and newsmakers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Bay-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Bay",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/thebay",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 2
},
"link": "/podcasts/thebay",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bay/id1350043452",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d800ea4c-7a2c-42f2-b861-edaf78a5db0b/the-bay",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/586725995/the-bay",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-bay",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/4BIKBKIujizLHlIlBNaAqQ",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC8259786327"
}
},
"thelatest": {
"id": "thelatest",
"title": "The Latest",
"tagline": "Trusted local news in real time",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/The-Latest-2025-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Latest",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/thelatest",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 6
},
"link": "/thelatest",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-latest-from-kqed/id1197721799",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1257949365/the-latest-from-k-q-e-d",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/5KIIXMgM9GTi5AepwOYvIZ?si=bd3053fec7244dba",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9137121918"
}
},
"theleap": {
"id": "theleap",
"title": "The Leap",
"tagline": "What if you closed your eyes, and jumped?",
"info": "Stories about people making dramatic, risky changes, told by award-winning public radio reporter Judy Campbell.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Leap-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Leap",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/theleap",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 17
},
"link": "/podcasts/theleap",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-leap/id1046668171",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/447248267/the-leap",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-leap",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3sSlVHHzU0ytLwuGs1SD1U",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/programs/the-leap/feed/podcast"
}
},
"the-moth-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-moth-radio-hour",
"title": "The Moth Radio Hour",
"info": "Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of true stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. Moth storytellers stand alone, under a spotlight, with only a microphone and a roomful of strangers. The storyteller and the audience embark on a high-wire act of shared experience which is both terrifying and exhilarating. Since 2008, The Moth podcast has featured many of our favorite stories told live on Moth stages around the country. For information on all of our programs and live events, visit themoth.org.",
"airtime": "SAT 8pm-9pm and SUN 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/theMoth.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://themoth.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "prx"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-moth-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth-podcast/id275699983?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/The-Moth-p273888/",
"rss": "http://feeds.themoth.org/themothpodcast"
}
},
"the-new-yorker-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"title": "The New Yorker Radio Hour",
"info": "The New Yorker Radio Hour is a weekly program presented by the magazine's editor, David Remnick, and produced by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. Each episode features a diverse mix of interviews, profiles, storytelling, and an occasional burst of humor inspired by the magazine, and shaped by its writers, artists, and editors. This isn't a radio version of a magazine, but something all its own, reflecting the rich possibilities of audio storytelling and conversation. Theme music for the show was composed and performed by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-YArDs.",
"airtime": "SAT 10am-11am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-New-Yorker-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/tnyradiohour",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1050430296",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/New-Yorker-Radio-Hour-p803804/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/newyorkerradiohour"
}
},
"the-sam-sanders-show": {
"id": "the-sam-sanders-show",
"title": "The Sam Sanders Show",
"info": "One of public radio's most dynamic voices, Sam Sanders helped launch The NPR Politics Podcast and hosted NPR's hit show It's Been A Minute. Now, the award-winning host returns with something brand new, The Sam Sanders Show. Every week, Sam Sanders and friends dig into the culture that shapes our lives: what's driving the biggest trends, how artists really think, and even the memes you can't stop scrolling past. Sam is beloved for his way of unpacking the world and bringing you up close to fresh currents and engaging conversations. The Sam Sanders Show is smart, funny and always a good time.",
"airtime": "FRI 12-1pm AND SAT 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Sam-Sanders-Show-Podcast-Tile-400x400-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "KCRW"
},
"link": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feed.cdnstream1.com/zjb/feed/download/ac/28/59/ac28594c-e1d0-4231-8728-61865cdc80e8.xml"
}
},
"the-splendid-table": {
"id": "the-splendid-table",
"title": "The Splendid Table",
"info": "\u003cem>The Splendid Table\u003c/em> hosts our nation's conversations about cooking, sustainability and food culture.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Splendid-Table-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.splendidtable.org/",
"airtime": "SUN 10-11 pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-splendid-table"
},
"this-american-life": {
"id": "this-american-life",
"title": "This American Life",
"info": "This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.",
"airtime": "SAT 12pm-1pm, 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/thisAmericanLife.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wbez"
},
"link": "/radio/program/this-american-life",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201671138&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"rss": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/rss.xml"
}
},
"tinydeskradio": {
"id": "tinydeskradio",
"title": "Tiny Desk Radio",
"info": "We're bringing the best of Tiny Desk to the airwaves, only on public radio.",
"airtime": "SUN 8pm and SAT 9pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/300x300-For-Member-Station-Logo-Tiny-Desk-Radio-@2x.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/g-s1-52030/tiny-desk-radio",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tinydeskradio",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/g-s1-52030/rss.xml"
}
},
"wait-wait-dont-tell-me": {
"id": "wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"title": "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!",
"info": "Peter Sagal and Bill Kurtis host the weekly NPR News quiz show alongside some of the best and brightest news and entertainment personalities.",
"airtime": "SUN 10am-11am, SAT 11am-12pm, SAT 6pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Wait-Wait-Podcast-Tile-300x300-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/Xogv",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=121493804&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Wait-Wait-Dont-Tell-Me-p46/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/344098539/podcast.xml"
}
},
"weekend-edition-saturday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-saturday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Saturday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Saturday wraps up the week's news and offers a mix of analysis and features on a wide range of topics, including arts, sports, entertainment, and human interest stories. The two-hour program is hosted by NPR's Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon.",
"airtime": "SAT 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-saturday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-saturday"
},
"weekend-edition-sunday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-sunday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Sunday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Sunday features interviews with newsmakers, artists, scientists, politicians, musicians, writers, theologians and historians. The program has covered news events from Nelson Mandela's 1990 release from a South African prison to the capture of Saddam Hussein.",
"airtime": "SUN 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-sunday"
}
},
"racesReducer": {},
"racesGenElectionReducer": {},
"racesGenElection2026Reducer": {},
"racesGenElection2026PresidentialReducer": {},
"radioSchedulesReducer": {},
"listsReducer": {
"posts/mindshift?tag=neuroscience": {
"isFetching": false,
"latestQuery": {
"from": 24,
"size": 12
},
"vitalsOnly": false,
"totalRequested": 12,
"isLoading": false,
"isLoadingMore": true,
"total": {
"value": 52,
"relation": "eq"
},
"items": [
"mindshift_50556",
"mindshift_49102",
"mindshift_46956",
"mindshift_46865",
"mindshift_46640",
"mindshift_45201",
"mindshift_44561",
"mindshift_44153",
"mindshift_43326",
"mindshift_42518",
"mindshift_41975",
"mindshift_41218"
],
"complete": true
}
},
"recallGuideReducer": {
"intros": {},
"policy": {},
"candidates": {}
},
"savedArticleReducer": {
"articles": [],
"status": {}
},
"newslettersReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"newsletters": {},
"isSubscribing": false,
"isUnsubscribing": false,
"subscribedNewsletters": {}
},
"termsReducer": {
"about": {
"name": "About",
"type": "terms",
"id": "about",
"slug": "about",
"link": "/about",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"arts": {
"name": "Arts & Culture",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"description": "KQED Arts provides daily in-depth coverage of the Bay Area's music, art, film, performing arts, literature and arts news, as well as cultural commentary and criticism.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts",
"slug": "arts",
"link": "/arts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"artschool": {
"name": "Art School",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "artschool",
"slug": "artschool",
"link": "/artschool",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareabites": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareabites",
"slug": "bayareabites",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareahiphop": {
"name": "Bay Area Hiphop",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareahiphop",
"slug": "bayareahiphop",
"link": "/bayareahiphop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"campaign21": {
"name": "Campaign 21",
"type": "terms",
"id": "campaign21",
"slug": "campaign21",
"link": "/campaign21",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"careers": {
"name": "Careers",
"type": "terms",
"id": "careers",
"slug": "careers",
"link": "/careers",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"checkplease": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "checkplease",
"slug": "checkplease",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"education": {
"name": "Education",
"grouping": [
"education"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "education",
"slug": "education",
"link": "/education",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"elections": {
"name": "Elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "elections",
"slug": "elections",
"link": "/elections",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"events": {
"name": "Events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "events",
"slug": "events",
"link": "/events",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"event": {
"name": "Event",
"alias": "events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "event",
"slug": "event",
"link": "/event",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"filmschoolshorts": {
"name": "Film School Shorts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "filmschoolshorts",
"slug": "filmschoolshorts",
"link": "/filmschoolshorts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"food": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "food",
"slug": "food",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"forum": {
"name": "Forum",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/forum?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "forum",
"slug": "forum",
"link": "/forum",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"futureofyou": {
"name": "Future of You",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "futureofyou",
"slug": "futureofyou",
"link": "/futureofyou",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"jpepinheart": {
"name": "KQED food",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/food,bayareabites,checkplease",
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "jpepinheart",
"slug": "jpepinheart",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"liveblog": {
"name": "Live Blog",
"type": "terms",
"id": "liveblog",
"slug": "liveblog",
"link": "/liveblog",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"livetv": {
"name": "Live TV",
"parent": "tv",
"type": "terms",
"id": "livetv",
"slug": "livetv",
"link": "/livetv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"lowdown": {
"name": "The Lowdown",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/lowdown?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "lowdown",
"slug": "lowdown",
"link": "/lowdown",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"mindshift": {
"name": "Mindshift",
"parent": "news",
"description": "MindShift explores the future of education by highlighting the innovative – and sometimes counterintuitive – ways educators and parents are helping all children succeed.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift",
"slug": "mindshift",
"link": "/mindshift",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"news": {
"name": "News",
"grouping": [
"news",
"forum"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "news",
"slug": "news",
"link": "/news",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"newsletters": {
"name": "newsletters",
"type": "terms",
"id": "newsletters",
"slug": "newsletters",
"link": "/newsletters",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"perspectives": {
"name": "Perspectives",
"parent": "radio",
"type": "terms",
"id": "perspectives",
"slug": "perspectives",
"link": "/perspectives",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"podcasts": {
"name": "Podcasts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "podcasts",
"slug": "podcasts",
"link": "/podcasts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pop": {
"name": "Pop",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pop",
"slug": "pop",
"link": "/pop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pressroom": {
"name": "Pressroom",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pressroom",
"slug": "pressroom",
"link": "/pressroom",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"quest": {
"name": "Quest",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "quest",
"slug": "quest",
"link": "/quest",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"radio": {
"name": "Radio",
"grouping": [
"forum",
"perspectives"
],
"description": "Listen to KQED Public Radio – home of Forum and The California Report – on 88.5 FM in San Francisco, 89.3 FM in Sacramento, 88.3 FM in Santa Rosa and 88.1 FM in Martinez.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "radio",
"slug": "radio",
"link": "/radio",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"root": {
"name": "KQED",
"image": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"imageWidth": 1200,
"imageHeight": 630,
"headData": {
"title": "KQED | News, Radio, Podcasts, TV | Public Media for Northern California",
"description": "KQED provides public radio, television, and independent reporting on issues that matter to the Bay Area. We’re the NPR and PBS member station for Northern California."
},
"type": "terms",
"id": "root",
"slug": "root",
"link": "/root",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"science": {
"name": "Science",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"description": "KQED Science brings you award-winning science and environment coverage from the Bay Area and beyond.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "science",
"slug": "science",
"link": "/science",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"stateofhealth": {
"name": "State of Health",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "stateofhealth",
"slug": "stateofhealth",
"link": "/stateofhealth",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"support": {
"name": "Support",
"type": "terms",
"id": "support",
"slug": "support",
"link": "/support",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"thedolist": {
"name": "The Do List",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "thedolist",
"slug": "thedolist",
"link": "/thedolist",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"trulyca": {
"name": "Truly CA",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "trulyca",
"slug": "trulyca",
"link": "/trulyca",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"tv": {
"name": "TV",
"type": "terms",
"id": "tv",
"slug": "tv",
"link": "/tv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"voterguide": {
"name": "Voter Guide",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "voterguide",
"slug": "voterguide",
"link": "/voterguide",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"guiaelectoral": {
"name": "Guia Electoral",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "guiaelectoral",
"slug": "guiaelectoral",
"link": "/guiaelectoral",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"mindshift_tag_neuroscience": {
"isLoading": true
},
"mindshift_46": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_46",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "46",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Neuroscience",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Neuroscience Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 46,
"slug": "neuroscience",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/neuroscience"
},
"mindshift_192": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_192",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "192",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Big Ideas",
"description": "The latest findings from experts in the field related to the future of learning.",
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "The latest findings from experts in the field related to the future of learning.",
"title": "Big Ideas Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 192,
"slug": "big-ideas",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/category/big-ideas"
},
"mindshift_21093": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_21093",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "21093",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "adolescence",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "adolescence Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20365,
"slug": "adolescence",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/adolescence"
},
"mindshift_21078": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_21078",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "21078",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "cognitive development",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "cognitive development Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20350,
"slug": "cognitive-development",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/cognitive-development"
},
"mindshift_21139": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_21139",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "21139",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "popularity",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "popularity Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20411,
"slug": "popularity",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/popularity"
},
"mindshift_30": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_30",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "30",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Social Media",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Social Media Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 30,
"slug": "social-media",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/social-media"
},
"mindshift_21159": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_21159",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "21159",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "teenage brain",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "teenage brain Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20431,
"slug": "teenage-brain",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/teenage-brain"
},
"mindshift_1038": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_1038",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "1038",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "teens",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "teens Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1043,
"slug": "teens",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/teens"
},
"mindshift_21052": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_21052",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "21052",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "auditory learning",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "auditory learning Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20324,
"slug": "auditory-learning",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/auditory-learning"
},
"mindshift_184": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_184",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "184",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "autism",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "autism Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 184,
"slug": "autism",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/autism"
},
"mindshift_20784": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20784",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20784",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "featured",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "featured Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20061,
"slug": "featured",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/featured"
},
"mindshift_1040": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_1040",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "1040",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "full-image",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "full-image Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1045,
"slug": "full-image",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/full-image"
},
"mindshift_195": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_195",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "195",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Digital Tools",
"description": "How devices, software, and the Internet are changing the classroom dynamic.",
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "How devices, software, and the Internet are changing the classroom dynamic.",
"title": "Digital Tools Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 195,
"slug": "digital-tools",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/category/digital-tools"
},
"mindshift_193": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_193",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "193",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Teaching Strategies",
"description": "Innovative ideas - projects, processes, curricula, and more - that are transforming how we teach and learn.",
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "Innovative ideas - projects, processes, curricula, and more - that are transforming how we teach and learn.",
"title": "Teaching Strategies Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 193,
"slug": "teaching-strategies",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/category/teaching-strategies"
},
"mindshift_20955": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20955",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20955",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "executive function",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "executive function Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20227,
"slug": "executive-function",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/executive-function"
},
"mindshift_20867": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20867",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20867",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "non-cognitive skills",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "non-cognitive skills Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20145,
"slug": "non-cognitive-skills",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/non-cognitive-skills"
},
"mindshift_767": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_767",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "767",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "brain research",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "brain research Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 770,
"slug": "brain-research",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/brain-research"
},
"mindshift_21001": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_21001",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "21001",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "fractions",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "fractions Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20273,
"slug": "fractions",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/fractions"
},
"mindshift_392": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_392",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "392",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "math",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "math Archives - KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 393,
"slug": "math",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/math"
},
"mindshift_20713": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20713",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20713",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "science of learning",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "science of learning Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 19990,
"slug": "science-of-learning",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/science-of-learning"
},
"mindshift_20874": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20874",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20874",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Teenage Years",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Teenage Years Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20152,
"slug": "teenage-years",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/category/teenage-years"
},
"mindshift_21039": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_21039",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "21039",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "risk",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "risk Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20311,
"slug": "risk",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/risk"
},
"mindshift_20827": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20827",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20827",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Motivation",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Motivation Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20105,
"slug": "motivation",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/category/motivation"
},
"mindshift_943": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_943",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "943",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "social emotional learning",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "social emotional learning Archives - KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 948,
"slug": "social-emotional-learning",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/social-emotional-learning"
},
"mindshift_20579": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20579",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20579",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Creativity",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Creativity Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 19856,
"slug": "creativity-3",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/category/creativity-3"
},
"mindshift_862": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_862",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "862",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "creativity",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "creativity Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 865,
"slug": "creativity",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/creativity"
},
"mindshift_20983": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20983",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20983",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "imagination",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "imagination Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20255,
"slug": "imagination",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/imagination"
},
"mindshift_20982": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20982",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20982",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Scott Barry Kaufman",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Scott Barry Kaufman Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20254,
"slug": "scott-barry-kaufman",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/scott-barry-kaufman"
},
"mindshift_20787": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20787",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20787",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "marshmallow test",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "marshmallow test Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20064,
"slug": "marshmallow-test",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/marshmallow-test"
},
"mindshift_20954": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20954",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20954",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "self-control",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "self-control Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20226,
"slug": "self-control",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/self-control"
},
"mindshift_20956": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20956",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20956",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Walter Mischel",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Walter Mischel Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20228,
"slug": "walter-mischel",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/walter-mischel"
},
"mindshift_1020": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_1020",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "1020",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Curiosity",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Curiosity Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1025,
"slug": "curiosity",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/curiosity"
},
"mindshift_20512": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20512",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20512",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "growth mindset",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "growth mindset Archives - KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 19789,
"slug": "growth-mindset",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/growth-mindset"
},
"mindshift_797": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_797",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "797",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "inquiry learning",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "inquiry learning Archives - KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 800,
"slug": "inquiry-learning",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/inquiry-learning"
},
"mindshift_20772": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_20772",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "20772",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "intrinsic motivation",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "intrinsic motivation Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20049,
"slug": "intrinsic-motivation",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/tag/intrinsic-motivation"
},
"mindshift_194": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift_194",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "mindshift",
"id": "194",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Culture",
"description": "How trends in technology – social networks, Internet privacy, cyberbullying – influence education.",
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "How trends in technology – social networks, Internet privacy, cyberbullying – influence education.",
"title": "Culture Archives | KQED Mindshift",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 194,
"slug": "culture",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/mindshift/category/culture"
}
},
"userPermissionsReducer": {
"wpLoggedIn": false
},
"eventsReducer": {},
"fssReducer": {},
"tvDailyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvWeeklyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvPrimetimeScheduleReducer": {},
"tvMonthlyScheduleReducer": {},
"userAccountReducer": {
"user": {
"email": null,
"emailStatus": "EMAIL_UNVALIDATED",
"loggedStatus": "LOGGED_OUT",
"loggingChecked": false,
"articles": [],
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"phoneNumber": null,
"fetchingMembership": false,
"membershipError": false,
"memberships": [
{
"id": null,
"startDate": null,
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"familyNumber": null,
"memberNumber": null,
"memberSince": null,
"expirationDate": null,
"pfsEligible": false,
"isSustaining": false,
"membershipLevel": "Prospect",
"membershipStatus": "Non Member",
"lastGiftDate": null,
"renewalDate": null,
"lastDonationAmount": null
}
]
},
"authModal": {
"isOpen": false,
"view": "LANDING_VIEW"
},
"error": null
},
"youthMediaReducer": {},
"checkPleaseReducer": {
"filterData": {
"region": {
"key": "Restaurant Region",
"filters": [
"Any Region"
]
},
"cuisine": {
"key": "Restaurant Cuisine",
"filters": [
"Any Cuisine"
]
}
},
"restaurantDataById": {},
"restaurantIdsSorted": [],
"error": null
},
"userAgentReducer": {
"userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)",
"isBot": true
},
"requestOutcomesReducer": {
"notFound": []
},
"navPromosReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": true,
"promos": {
"news": {
"name": "2026 Voter Guide",
"link": "/voterguide",
"imageURL": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Nav-News-Nov2026ElectionCoverage@2x-7bd4aad4.png",
"description": "Get informed in minutes with our Voter Guide for California’s November 3 election."
},
"podcasts-radio": {},
"video-tv": {},
"events": {},
"support": {}
}
}
}
