EDU PSYCH LAB

Educación, Psicología & Ciencia

Archivo de la etiqueta: cognition


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La ciencia y las mujeres

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“Un estudio con 761.655 niños de 68 naciones ha demostrado que los países más desarrollados cuentan con niños que muestran menores niveles de ansiedad cuando se enfrentan a las matemáticas. No obstante, los países con menor desigualdad de género (y más desarrollados) muestran más diferencias de sexo en cuanto a la ansiedad en el desempeño de las matemáticas y menor valoración por parte de los padres en cuanto a la importancia de las matemáticas cuando se trata de niñas” – Gijsbert Stoet, Drew H. Balley, Alex M. Moore y David Geary.

Hace unos días, me encontré a mi misma desde el otro lado del escritorio intentando convencer a una mujer tras otra (aunque también algún hombre), de la sencillez de un examen de competencias  clave de nivel II. Ese examen permitiría certificar un nivel mínimo educativo, y consta de una prueba de lengua castellana, gallego, y matemáticas… – ¿matemáticas?. Matemática básica. La respuesta demasiado a menudo es un “No puedo, dejé de estudiar para no tener que hacer frente a las matemáticas, me producen terror”. Sigue leyendo →

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Infographic: Memory & Learning

memory-ii

Over the time, we are changing the way we interact with information. This infographic was designed as an introduction to Memory (in Cognitive Psychology); it supposes that our brains process 60.000 times faster visual information than text-based information (what psychologists call «the pictorial superiority effect», 1976).

I´ll try to introduce video infographics in the classroom…  🙂 Have a nice day!


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From theories to practice: Alex, what does “1”mean ?

Many authors have paid attention to the etiology of dyscalculia (here I use dyscalculia or math disability as equivalent terms, even is not very purist). In this post, we  address some of the most famous theories in this field and how we can link them to the real practice.
Almost everybody agrees with the two most famous theories in this area, which are actually an amazing work in numerical cognition. These theories propose that number troubles come from a weakness in number sense or numerosity coding.

mental-number-system

Mental Number Line

 

  1. The Theory of the Approximate Number System (ANS), and how we use it for representing large and approximate numbers via a mental number line (Dehaene, 2011).
    Is “8” big or small? – If we consider that a number lower than 5 is small.
    Is “6” big or small?
    Probably it´s much easier for a kid to say that 10 is a big number, due to the “mental line distribution”
  2. The Numerosity- Coding Hypothesis proposed by Butterworth (2010), which states that Math Disability is caused by a deficit in the processing of smaller and exact sets of numbers.
    These theories state that we all have a preverbal ability which contributes to the foundation for the Symbolic Number System that we use to learn mathematics.

 

numerosity

Blue or Yellow? – In the easy task, the blue stars are much more salient but in the difficult task, a number of stars are quite similar, thus the RT increases.

 

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Executive Functions in the Schools

Why study EF?

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School Program

EFS (Executive Functions) are complex. Complex to assess, to work with and even to write about them; and even so, I chose this topic for my research and PhD dissertation. EFS comprise a diverse range of cognitive processes which underline many disorders and difficulties that children and youngsters present at school and everyday life. Through the understanding of all these cognitive processes – planning, working memory, attention, inhibition, self-monitoring, self-regulation and initiation, we will be able to develop different programs and individual interventions to help them, not only in educational settings but wellbeing in life (emotional and social development). It becomes a challenge.

Students use EF at school, to complete assignments, engage during the lessons, learn concepts, and behave appropriately. There are many studies which prove a direct relation between EF and achievement in math, language skills, reading comprehension and writing (Sluis, de Jong & van der Leij, 2004).

When children experiment delays in the development of different EF, their understanding of academic material and social interactions suffer (they may be unable to establish new friendships or interact socially).
Several common developmental disorders emerge during early childhood (e.g. LD, ADHD, ADD, autism) and are associated with impairment in EF. Many kids show “x” behaviors sometimes, however if these behaviors persist along the time, or increase their intensity or interfere with their everyday life, parents should be aware and ask for help. To present certain troubles in EF during childhood, it doesn’t mean that the kid presents a disorder, but often EF issues co-occur with learning, ADHD or developmental delays. Sigue leyendo →


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Understanding Learning Troubles

DNA & Learning

– What is the cause of learning disabilities?
– Why is this happening to my kid?
– How can we help our kid?
– Are we doing something wrong?

These 4 questions are the most common in learning disabilities context. During the last month, we have been working on this area, trying to provide information to parents regarding learning disabilities etiology and how to deal with them.
In this article we will discuss about developmental disorders which affect to language, learning and cognition. These include those affecting to language, arithmetic, reading, motor skills, attention and also social interaction. All these disorders have serious consequences for education, and thereafter for well-being in adulthood.

Specific Learning Difficulties VS General Learning Difficulties

It´s important to make a difference between specific learning difficulty and general learning difficulties; general learning difficulties involve difficulties acquiring a wide range of skills, a specific learning difficulty involves a restricted domain. IQ tests, let us know if the child has an average IQ scores (more often in children with specific LD) or scores below 70 (more often in cases of general LD). However the distinction is probably much more complex.

We work with DN-CAS (Das-Naglieri Cognitive Assessment System) which offers a lot of information about the cognitive functioning in children and adolescents focus on processes (panning, attention, simultaneous, successive); it offers an individual profile of strengths and weaknesses in learning, very useful while designing the intervention.

DSM-V considers SLD to be a type of Neurodevelopmental Disorder that impedes the ability to learn or use specific academic skills (writing, reading or arithmetic), which is the foundation for other academic learning. Neurodevelopmental Disorders also include intellectual disabilities, communication disorders, autism spectrum disorders, ADHD and motor disorders. Sigue leyendo →


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Peace of Mind

You once told me you wanted to find yourself in the world, and I told you to first apply within, to discover the world within you.

You once told me you wanted to save the world from all its wars, and I told you to first save yourself from the world, and all the wars you put yourself through. – Suzy Kassem.

We are stuck in our own heads. Is not a way out?

– Yes, stop over-thinking, obsessive thinking and worrying too much. – Move on!
– Where is the anxiety button? Is it possible to shut down this state? Maybe the pill will help.
– There aren´t pills for a state of mind… How many years have you been taking benzodiazepines?
– Three years with Alprazolam (Xanax) … but I tried others like Diazepam [1] (Valium)… etc.
– How old are you?
– I am 29 years old
– What´s the main problem?
– I cannot control my thinking.

Sigue leyendo →


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I know, there´s a Romanche Touch here: 365 days in English

The national prominence

Well, if you define yourself as an amateur writer, you likely cannot understand why I am NOT using my native language. We know the beginner´s fears – Would you just read over my stuff and tell me if… I should make a small bonfire or just keep writing? Of course, we compare our writing with the best; we never think that all these “great works” have been rewritten and polished many times. Being in the early twenties, we all dreamed with that work which would catapult us to national prominence. But seriously, I am Spanish – Why expose myself to this macabre idea about writing in English? Everything happens for a reason [The Cliché]. Sigue leyendo →


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Oh dear… It´s all about perception!

First impressions:

I used to fight against stereotypes
Not only bigoted people use stereotypes
Believe it or not, we all have a biased view of this world
Do you recognize your biases?
A part of me winced; our camera has only ONE perspective!
We are so limited! How can we survive?
This article will be terribly boring…
It´s not about life, neither about stereotypes
It´s all about cognition

Are you still here? Sigue leyendo →