tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/how-children-learn-24253/articlesHow children learn – The Conversation2019-01-24T10:26:30Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1046552019-01-24T10:26:30Z2019-01-24T10:26:30ZDyscalculia: ‘maths dyslexia’ or why so many children struggle with numbers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253849/original/file-20190115-152974-btqp61.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Signs of dyscalculia, also known as a math learning disability or math disorder, can be hard to spot. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You’ve probably heard of dyslexia, but have you heard of <a href="https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/dyslexic/maths-difficulties-dyscalculia">dyscalculia</a> before? Maybe not, given that children with dyscalculia – or mathematical learning difficulties – are less likely to be diagnosed. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="https://digest.bps.org.uk/2018/09/18/uk-study-finds-children-with-maths-difficulties-sldm-dyscalculia-are-100-times-less-likely-to-receive-an-official-diagnosis-than-peers-with-dyslexia/">research</a> shows that children with dyslexia are more than a hundred times more likely to receive a diagnosis and educational support than children with dyscalculia. This is despite the fact that dyslexia and dyscalculia are expected to be equally common. </p>
<p>This is worrying, given that <a href="https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/research-long-term-costs-numeracy-difficulties-2008">research</a> shows low numeracy might affect people’s life chances more negatively than low literacy. Indeed, there is a <a href="https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/why-numeracy-important">strong link</a> between numeracy and educational success, income, mental and physical health and even chances of arrest and incarceration.</p>
<h2>What is dyscalculia?</h2>
<p>Dyscalculia is <a href="http://www.ldonline.org/article/13709/">defined</a> as a condition that involves long-term, severe difficulties with mathematics – which cause significant problems with academic or occupational performance, or with daily activities.</p>
<p>Some typical signs of dyscalculia that parents might notice are using finger counting – even for simple arithmetic – struggling to retrieve number facts from memory (such as times tables), and struggling to learn new procedures. </p>
<p>Dyscalculic children might also have trouble using calendars and clocks, they might struggle with <a href="http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/sites/default/files/files/Morsanyi%2042027%20-%20Main%20Public%20report_Final%20(Oct18).pdf">recalling the order</a> of past events, and with following sequential instructions.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253850/original/file-20190115-152992-snqyw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253850/original/file-20190115-152992-snqyw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253850/original/file-20190115-152992-snqyw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253850/original/file-20190115-152992-snqyw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253850/original/file-20190115-152992-snqyw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253850/original/file-20190115-152992-snqyw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253850/original/file-20190115-152992-snqyw5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">How having dyscalculia can feel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p><a href="https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-31/august-2018/are-neurodevelopmental-disorders-discrete-conditions">Research</a> shows that developmental disorders very often occur together. So if your child has autism, ADHD or dyslexia, then they could also have dyscalculia. Our recent <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/bjop.12322">research</a> investigated the links between dyscalculia and other developmental disorders in primary school children, and we found that among the children we identified as potentially dyscalculic, 81% already had another diagnosis. </p>
<p>We also found the number of boys and girls with dyscalculia to be the same. This differs from other conditions that are more common among boys. In our study, twice as many boys than girls had a diagnosis of dyslexia.</p>
<h2>Why is it so rarely diagnosed?</h2>
<p>Primary schools in the UK test pupils using standardised, curriculum-based tests every year, starting from grade three. When a child performs at or below a certain cut-off, and their performance does not substantially improve after receiving specialist support for six months, they should receive a diagnosis of dyscalculia. But despite this, dyscalculia is almost never diagnosed – it appears to be a very rare condition. </p>
<p>This could mean that because practitioners do not have experience of working with children with a diagnosis of dyscalculia, they might feel less confident in identifying a new case.</p>
<p>Former diagnostic criteria for dyscalculia included the requirement that mathematics skills should be well below the person’s level of intelligence. <a href="https://dyslexiaida.org/dsm-5-changes-in-diagnostic-criteria-for-specific-learning-disabilities-sld1-what-are-the-implications/">This requirement has been now dropped</a>, but practitioners might still expect an unexplained difficulty with mathematics, without any other issues.</p>
<p>There is also no official guidance on how dyscalculic learners can be best supported. And because a dyscalculia diagnosis is very rare, it is also difficult to recruit individuals with dyscalculia for research studies – which is essential for testing and developing intervention methods.</p>
<p>Another issue is that when children already have another diagnosis – such as ADHD – this might be considered the main target of intervention. This means that any learning difficulties might be seen as a consequence of the primary problems. And there can also be a general tendency to view mathematics as a difficult and burdensome subject that is “not for everybody”. </p>
<h2>Why diagnosis matters</h2>
<p>Early diagnosis is particularly important, because missing the basics of mathematics makes it difficult for learners to follow subsequent topics. This can lead to frustration and negative attitudes towards mathematics, as well as school subjects in general. </p>
<p>Officially diagnosing children might also lead to faster changes in government policies. Once dyscalculic learners appear in official statistics, it is more likely that support will be offered. It was only in 2009 that the <a href="http://www.thedyslexia-spldtrust.org.uk/media/downloads/inline/the-rose-report.1294933674.pdf">Rose report</a> on dyslexia was published, which called for the availability of special training for teachers to support children with dyslexia. This initiative has been a huge success, and it is likely that the same result would be possible for dyscalculia. </p>
<p>What all this shows is that when it comes to dyscalculia, more needs to be done to help children who are struggling. So if you’re a parent worried about your child, it is important to raise this with your child’s school and seek specialist educational psychology support. </p>
<p>Obtaining an official diagnosis might take a long time. But you can help your child by practising some basic concepts and procedures with them. This can be done by manipulating everyday objects, such as beads or tokens, or playing simple <a href="https://everychildcounts.edgehill.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/01-Numbers-Count-Children_x264.mp4">number games</a>. You can also play board games with a dice – which can help to demonstrate basic number concepts. </p>
<p>These activities might be especially helpful for younger children, but can also help to build confidence in the case of older pupils. Computer based maths programs can also be used for repeated practice of arithmetic. As with literacy, it is important that you don’t see your child’s maths learning as solely the responsibility of schools. </p>
<p>Dyscalculia, similar to dyslexia, is a life-long condition, which continues to affect people beyond their school years. It cannot and should not be ignored. And a better awareness of the condition in parents, teachers and society generally could offer great improvements in the prospects of dyscalculic learners.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104655/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kinga Morsanyi received funding from the Nuffield Foundation to carry out research on dyscalculia. </span></em></p>Finger counting and struggling to tell the time or use a calendar are all typical signs of dyscalculia – sometimes called ‘maths dyslexia’.Kinga Morsanyi, Lecturer in the School of Psychology, Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1024182018-09-17T08:47:22Z2018-09-17T08:47:22ZThe ideal school would put children’s development before league tables<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236215/original/file-20180913-177947-am8lmv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-school-kids-reading-education-600737564?src=E4POyVobwrHcIGrac0jOuw-1-39">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://theconversation.com/north-south-divide-in-schools-is-real-and-its-more-complex-than-you-think-96055">League tables</a> can make or break a school. So it’s no surprise that the majority of educational priorities are aligned with academic excellence – often to the exclusion of everything else. Creativity, empathy, imagination, critical thinking and a sense of worth cannot easily be measured, so don’t count in the statistics of how well a school is doing. </p>
<p>But this is a time when <a href="https://theconversation.com/schools-need-to-teach-pupils-skills-to-maintain-good-mental-health-heres-how-95885">mental health among young people</a> is deteriorating. The rising number of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jul/19/sharp-rise-in-pupil-exclusions-from-english-state-schools">school exclusions</a> also suggests schools are not catering for the needs of children who challenge their reputation for “excellence”.</p>
<p>Education policies appear to be contributing to the current crisis which sees anxiety and depression increasing at an alarming rate. Many <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-media-has-made-school-children-more-fashion-conscious-than-ever-and-parents-are-footing-the-bill-102417">young people do not like themselves</a> or the world they are in. This is not surprising when children get the message that what matters most is high test scores and their greatest fear is not measuring up and being a “loser”. </p>
<p>But it doesn’t have to be like that. We need a different aspiration for education, one that fits with healthy child and adolescent development. Not only would all of this create more engaged pupils but there would also be fewer young people needing mental health intervention. </p>
<h2>The ideal education</h2>
<p>I believe it is possible to create an ideal school and classroom environment. Instead of league tables and Ofsted rankings, schools would be more aligned with the developmental milestones of children – rather than the desire to fill them full of facts and figures so they can pass <a href="https://theconversation.com/gcses-are-a-waste-of-time-an-education-expert-proposes-an-alternative-101647">the required tests</a>.</p>
<p>This would see schools focus on fostering a sense of belonging among all students. This is important, because for all children, feeling connected remains a powerful ingredient for well-being. This includes how pupils feel about being in school. </p>
<p>In one primary school where I was working, a child arrived on her first day behaving “like a wild animal”. She came from a family plagued by addictions, violence and neglect. The staff agreed they would give her the love and stability she needed. By the time she was 11, despite some wobbles, she had attained basic skills and formed positive relationships.</p>
<h2>Help them feel safe</h2>
<p>In order to develop well, children also need to feel safe: physically, emotionally and psychologically. When safety is compromised, children are <a href="https://academic.oup.com/her/article/13/3/383/677071">less likely to try anything new</a>. When those who don’t “fit” are labelled and bullied, pupils struggle with maintaining a positive self image – which affects their mental health, often into adulthood.</p>
<p>In the ideal school, children would be valued for their unique strengths and qualities. A system of personalised learning and personal bests would ensure that each pupil was in competition with themselves rather than others. </p>
<p>They also wouldn’t be constantly anxious about not being “good enough”. Society doesn’t need everyone to be doctors or merchant bankers, we need people to do a great job as a bus driver or hairdresser and be proud of what they do. </p>
<h2>Time for play and creativity</h2>
<p>There is now broad agreement about the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21594937.2013.863440">importance of free play</a> for cognitive, language, social, physical and emotional development. Young people developing as nature intended are curious, creative, energetic and playful. Yet schools are regularly reducing the length of unstructured time children have throughout the day.</p>
<p>There has also been an outcry about <a href="https://theconversation.com/mental-health-crisis-in-teens-is-being-magnified-by-demise-of-creative-subjects-in-school-102383">cuts in the creative arts</a> in schools. This is not only inconsistent with optimal child and adolescent development but makes little sense where innovative thinking is linked to economic growth and the media industry is a major employer. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236082/original/file-20180912-133874-435n18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236082/original/file-20180912-133874-435n18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236082/original/file-20180912-133874-435n18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236082/original/file-20180912-133874-435n18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236082/original/file-20180912-133874-435n18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236082/original/file-20180912-133874-435n18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236082/original/file-20180912-133874-435n18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Let children use their imaginations outside the classroom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mumbai-india-20-february-2017-unidentified-611728469?src=qc9ytwpvmZTSNtUaM0rz3Q-2-3">CRS PHOTO/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Sitting listening doesn’t make for <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/j.2168-9830.2004.tb00809.x">optimal learning</a> – but is often how traditional classrooms are organised. Children are more likely to be engaged at school when learning is active and fun as well as challenging. Positive emotions open up cognitive pathways, and can help with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3156609/">problem solving and creativity</a>.</p>
<p>It makes sense, then, to create a learning environment that is a safe and enjoyable place. This would see lessons structured around guided discovery, collaborative experimentation and the application of knowledge. There would also be various activities on offer – from football to dancing to martial arts – to help children stay both physically and mentally healthy.</p>
<h2>Help children socialise</h2>
<p>Although the primary site for socialisation is the family, what happens at school continues this process. In my ideal school, socialisation and language would become part of the formal curriculum and include social and emotional learning, citizenship and ethics. This would see young people discuss and reflect on identity, values, rights, responsibilities, relationships and resilience. As children copy the behaviour around them, teachers would also be aware of the models they provide and the messages they give about what is important.</p>
<p>In my ideal school, mistakes would also be part of the learning process – allowing children to be more independent in their thinking and learn for themselves. Education would be less didactic and controlling. Giving children more choice and autonomy leads to higher self-esteem and stronger <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1982-02134-001">intrinsic motivation</a>. Pupils would be given a voice, encouraged to think for themselves, and offered opportunities to develop self-reliance.</p>
<p>There are, of course, many schools doing their best for pupils, often under difficult circumstances. But it is clear that aligning education more with how children actually develop would not only improve engagement and academic attainment, but would also help pupils stay mentally healthy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sue Roffey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Imagining the ideal school.Sue Roffey, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Education, University of ExeterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/907192018-02-27T10:45:12Z2018-02-27T10:45:12ZOfsted want to introduce more formal teaching practices – this is a potential disaster for children’s learning<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207098/original/file-20180220-116360-psn5c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Young children learn through play. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=TbQ5RCBxmRnbT2RjuJmxgg-1-67">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We know that when it comes to brain development, it continues throughout most of our lives – from infancy to adulthood. But unlike other more obvious signs of growing up, many parents underestimate how much a child’s brain changes from year to year.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/The+Learning+Brain:+Lessons+for+Education-p-9781405124010">Research shows</a> that during early childhood, the links within the brain are busy forming – this is a time when children are learning to learn. And their brains are gradually forming connections that enable them to organise their thoughts. </p>
<p>For children to be able to learn new information, they need to relate the new learning to previous learning. They need to develop an awareness of their own thinking and to monitor their thoughts, emotions and actions. And these capacities develop best through play. </p>
<p>Psychologist Pam Jarvis explains this in her blog <a href="http://histpsych.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/child-development-invisible-man.html">The Psychological Historian</a>, using an analogy of trying to put clothes into a wardrobe with insufficient hangers. The hangers are the neural connections in the brain. Without enough hangers, some of the clothes will fall to the floor in a jumbled mess. In the same way, if new information is given to children who have not yet developed enough neural connections, the knowledge will not be retained. </p>
<p>In this way then, teaching is most successful when the child can use their individual interests as a “hanger” to put the new knowledge onto. This happens in play, as the child chooses what they would like to play with and the adult can support them by challenging them to think at the next level. </p>
<h2>Less time to play</h2>
<p>It’s not surprising then that <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reception-curriculum-in-good-and-outstanding-primary-schools-bold-beginnings">a recent report</a> from Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education) which calls for less play and more formal lessons has caused shockwaves among early years teachers.</p>
<p>The Bold Beginnings report outlines aspects of good practice with four to five-year-olds in a number of primary schools. It claims that for many children, the reception year is a false start as by the end of it, children are not adequately prepared for school. </p>
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<span class="caption">Ofsted’s Bold Beginnings report on reception class curriculum is flawed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=9bs9juNGxyZ2cN-WFEZY9A-1-91">Shuttertstock</a></span>
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<p>To combat this, Ofsted suggest teachers spend less time supporting children’s learning through play, and more time teaching formal lessons. </p>
<p>The report was met with outcry. A letter signed by over 2,800 teachers, academics and educators – including the professor and TV presenter Robert Winston – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jan/16/ofsteds-bold-beginnings-report-on-reception-class-curriculum-is-flawed">was sent to</a> The Guardian, asking for the report to be withdrawn.</p>
<h2>Play power</h2>
<p>Part of the problem, is there is little evidence the writers of the Bold Beginnings report have considered the brain development of children. </p>
<p>In the report, four and five-year-olds are presented as being the same as older children. A headteacher in the report is even quoted as saying: “We have the same learning and behavioural expectations from the start of school as we do at the end.” This may appear to be quite reasonable, but research into <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perspectives-Play-Learning-Avril-Brock/dp/1447904729">learning through play</a> indicates that learning expectations should actually be very different. </p>
<p><a href="https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/">Recent research</a> from the world of neuroscience demonstrates that learning through play develops the executive function of the child’s brain. Cambridge professor, Usha Goswami, in her book <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cognitive-Development-Usha-Claire-Goswami/dp/1841695319">Cognitive Development</a>, describes this as a function of the brain that helps us to regulate our thoughts, emotions and behaviour. </p>
<h2>Fun and games</h2>
<p>It includes skills such as problem solving, planning, thinking outside the box and controlling behaviour. Young children develop these skills through play, which enables them to become successful learners in the future. In this way, <a href="https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/play-and-learning-in-the-early-years/book233981">research shows</a> play is more effective than formal teaching in preparing children for difficult high level thinking and problem solving tasks. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207839/original/file-20180226-140200-1c1qf24.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207839/original/file-20180226-140200-1c1qf24.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207839/original/file-20180226-140200-1c1qf24.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207839/original/file-20180226-140200-1c1qf24.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207839/original/file-20180226-140200-1c1qf24.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207839/original/file-20180226-140200-1c1qf24.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207839/original/file-20180226-140200-1c1qf24.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Children learn through playing together.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/2-girls-sitting-on-seashore-160849/">Pexels.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Play also enables children to make sense of the world. This is because rather than knowledge being transferred to the child from the teacher, children in play, actively make their own meaning. Children find out for themselves how the world works, how numbers work, how writing works, how to communicate and relate to others through their playing. </p>
<p><a href="http://tactyc.org.uk/occasional-paper/occasional-paper2.pdf">Academics from Cambridge University</a> found that in play, children work together to make meaning. They support and “scaffold” each other as they work together on shared play projects, in role play games and many other social endeavours. </p>
<h2>Future learners</h2>
<p>The belief in play-based learning is central to the ideology of most working in early years education. The reason for this is that it is the best way for young children to learn. In fact, without play, early years would be exactly the same as school.</p>
<p>Play in Ofsted’s report is not presented as being essential to children’s development. While acknowledging that it is an important way to teach certain subjects – such as personal, social and emotional development they suggest that it is not the best method to teach maths and English. </p>
<p>Ofsted recommend teachers should devote “sufficient time each day to the direct teaching of reading, writing and mathematics”.
By “direct teaching”, Ofsted mean more formal teaching methods, which involve the teacher delivering a traditional lesson to the class. But while direct teaching can have a place in early years education, the balance needs to be right – for the sake of the children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90719/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mandy Pierlejewski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A recent report suggests reception classes should spend less time playing and more time focusing on literacy and mathematics.Mandy Pierlejewski, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education, Leeds Beckett UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/879602017-12-22T13:24:29Z2017-12-22T13:24:29ZHow to teach children morals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200168/original/file-20171220-4973-s9hz7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Schools in England are legally required to <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/32/section/78">promote the moral development of pupils</a>. Unfortunately though, there is little agreement on what this involves. Most people recognise that morality is important and needs to be taught – but when it comes to saying what it is and how to teach it, the consensus soon breaks down.</p>
<p>The past few years have seen some major developments in the area of “values education”. In 2014 the government issued guidance to schools on promoting the “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/promoting-fundamental-british-values-through-smsc">fundamental British values</a>” of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance. And since 2015 it has invested around £10m in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/funding-boost-for-schools-helping-pupils-develop-character">grants to support character education projects</a>, aimed at helping children to be “<a href="https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/dc21eb47-506f-4094-8f6d-696c5224d372">well-rounded, confident, happy and resilient</a>”. </p>
<p>But, whatever the merits of these initiatives, they have little to do with the teaching of morality. Indeed, one reason for the general confusion about moral education is that moral values have not been clearly distinguished from values of other kinds. </p>
<p>Someone who fails to value democracy certainly gets something wrong, but the failing is not a moral one. And the character traits the government champions – grit, resilience, confidence, ambition – are no doubt necessary for survival in unforgiving economic times, but they are hardly requirements of morality.</p>
<h2>What are moral values?</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://www.routledge.com/A-Theory-of-Moral-Education/Hand/p/book/9781138898547">my new book</a> I argue that to have a moral value is to subscribe to a standard in a particular way. A standard is a rule specifying something to be done or not done. Subscribing to a standard involves intending to comply with it, being in the habit of complying with it, and feeling bad about failing to comply with it. </p>
<p>A person subscribes to the standard “do not lie”, for example, when they try not to lie, tend not to lie, and regret the lies they tell.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200166/original/file-20171220-4980-o592x1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200166/original/file-20171220-4980-o592x1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200166/original/file-20171220-4980-o592x1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200166/original/file-20171220-4980-o592x1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200166/original/file-20171220-4980-o592x1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200166/original/file-20171220-4980-o592x1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200166/original/file-20171220-4980-o592x1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schools should play a role in passing on common morality.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/adolescent-adult-beauty-blur-459971/">Pexels</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Subscribing to a standard counts as moral when it has two further features. First, the subscriber not only tries to comply with the standard themselves, but wants everyone else to comply with it too. Second, they see violations of the standard as deserving of punishment or condemnation.</p>
<p>The stability of human social groups depends on people subscribing to at least some standards in this way. At the very least, people must be committed to not killing or causing harm, stealing or extorting, lying or cheating, and to treating others fairly, keeping their promises and helping those in need. These standards make up the core of common morality.</p>
<h2>How to teach them</h2>
<p>Schools have a role to play in passing on common morality to the next generation. To do this, they must provide two kinds of moral education.</p>
<p>The first is “moral formation” – cultivating in children the intentions, feelings and habits of moral subscription. This involves giving children moral guidance, rewarding them for doing right and punishing them for doing wrong, as well as modelling good conduct and modelling appropriate reactions to the conduct of others.</p>
<p>From the experience of having their behaviour regulated, children learn to self-regulate. And by emulating the moral reactions of others, children learn to react in those ways themselves.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200170/original/file-20171220-4954-1d8a0m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/200170/original/file-20171220-4954-1d8a0m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200170/original/file-20171220-4954-1d8a0m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200170/original/file-20171220-4954-1d8a0m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200170/original/file-20171220-4954-1d8a0m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200170/original/file-20171220-4954-1d8a0m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/200170/original/file-20171220-4954-1d8a0m8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children must develop moral intentions, feelings and habits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second kind of moral education is “moral inquiry” – engaging children in discussion and reflection on the nature and justification of moral values. Teachers must ensure, by explicit intervention or gentle steering, that moral inquiry brings to light the justification for common morality. It is vital that children come to understand what morality is for and why it demands the things it does.</p>
<p>Of course, alongside the task of passing on common morality, schools must also help children to pick their way through the minefields of moral controversy. Many moral standards are fiercely contested and it is not for schools to decide whether or not they are justified. Here moral inquiry should take the form of open-ended exploration, with the aim of equipping children to form their own considered views.</p>
<p>Promoting the moral development of pupils is difficult, but the challenges it poses are not insurmountable. Ensuring children subscribe to common morality, and understand the reasons for it, is a task schools must not shrink from – society depends on it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87960/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Hand does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Schools have a duty to teach children morality, but which moral values should they teach?Michael Hand, Professor of Philosophy of Education, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/795382017-07-05T22:42:33Z2017-07-05T22:42:33Z‘Screen time’ is about more than setting limits<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176447/original/file-20170630-8225-1jd0hdt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How much is too much screen time for kids?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asian-brother-sister-watching-cartoons-on-472962424?src=-8M1vrXec2Haov1oCsGriQ-1-8">Dragon Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In today’s media-rich world (or media-saturated, depending on your view), one rarely has to look far to find parents concerned about the ways that kids engage with technology. Recently, managing “screen time” seems to be on <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/06/19/why-a-colorado-dad-is-fighting-to-make-smartphones-for-preteens-illegal/">everyone’s</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/can-they-unplug-a-school-principal-will-pay-students-to-forgo-screentime-this-summer/2017/06/09/b22decd4-4c88-11e7-bc1b-fddbd8359dee_story.html">mind</a> – particularly during these summer months when kids find themselves with more time on their hands.</p>
<p>As someone who has spent the majority of my career studying <a href="http://www.mitpress.mit.edu/books/framing-internet-safety">kids and safety online</a>, I get a lot of questions from parents about screen time. My response? There’s a lot more to digital media consumption than expert advice about hourly limits. </p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8NcPA/4/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="328"></iframe>
<h2>Where ‘screen time’ comes from</h2>
<p>The idea of “screen time” initially gained traction in 1999, when the American Academy of Pediatrics suggested that parents <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-1753">avoid smartphone, tablet, computer and TV use for children under two</a> and limit such use to no more than two hours for children over two, adding hours as kids mature. While the American Academy of Pediatrics <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-screen-time-is-good-for-kids-53780">relaxed these guidelines</a> somewhat in 2016 (expanding their policies to include <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-2592">positive digital media use</a> and suggest family media plans), the <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/66927/1/Policy%20Brief%2017-%20Families%20%20Screen%20Time.pdf">core idea of screen time remains largely unchanged</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=597&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176937/original/file-20170705-29992-vwtymp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As early as 1984, even the Berenstains had something to say about screen time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/12152/the-berenstain-bears-and-too-much-tv-by-stan-and-jan-berenstain-illustrated-by-the-authors/9780394865706/">Penguin Random House</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite the allure of easy-to-follow rules that address parental concerns, screen time recommendations have drawn <a href="http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/66927/1/Policy%20Brief%2017-%20Families%20%20Screen%20Time.pdf">increasing criticism</a> from a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2017/jan/06/screen-time-guidelines-need-to-be-built-on-evidence-not-hype">wide range of experts</a>.</p>
<p>In the academic world, the science supporting screen time recommendations has major limitations. Lab-based studies don’t always translate to the complexities of real life. More often than not, screen time studies demonstrate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691615596788">connections between problems with well-being and media use</a>; they don’t demonstrate that one causes the other. For example, while research suggests that there’s a connection between screen time and childhood obesity, that could just mean that kids who are less active are more likely to be obese and spend more time in front of screens. The research does not suggest that screen time causes obesity.</p>
<h2>Screen time today</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1067&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1341&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1341&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176465/original/file-20170630-16446-2jgstb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1341&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One way to limit kids’ screen time: apps that lock their internet usage after a certain amount of time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.unglue.com/press/">unGlue</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As our media practices have changed, and adults themselves have begun to spend more of their time online, the idea of screen time has not quite kept up with the times. The world is increasingly saturated with all kinds of <a href="https://theconversation.com/textbooks-in-the-digital-world-78299">positive, interactive media experiences</a> – for children and adults alike. Ideas about limiting screen time assume all screen experiences are equally negative for kids and that they’re replacing positive offline activities.</p>
<p>Yet, we know that kids do all kinds of positive things with digital media, often in ways that <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/hanging-out-messing-around-and-geeking-out">support and are supported by “real life” activities</a> – in ways similar to adults. They go online to hang out with friends, catch up on events and seek out entertainment and information, just like anyone else.</p>
<p>In my own work, I’ve argued that some of the problems that parents have with kids and technology are, in fact, not about technology at all. With each generation, kids have been <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2011.638173">increasingly restricted</a> from <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/13/living/feat-maryland-free-range-parenting-family-under-investigation-again/index.html">going outside on their own</a>. With fewer private spaces to be a kid, we shouldn’t be surprised when kids turn to social media apps to hang out and socialize – and get upset when we stop them.</p>
<p>What looks like a “waste of time” or an “addiction” is often just <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242101479_Questioning_the_Generational_Divide_Technological_Exoticism_and_Adult_Constructions_of_Online_Youth_Identity">everyday hanging out</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176448/original/file-20170630-21184-jikdnd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Should kids be allowed outside – away from their devices – alone? The Meitiv family of Silver Spring, Maryland, faced an investigation after allowing their children to play in a local park unsupervised.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So what should parents do?</h2>
<p>How, then, can parents get a handle on their children’s media use? As always, <a href="https://www.danah.org/books/ItsComplicated.pdf">it’s complicated</a> – and no expert advice should trump the real, everyday experiences that parents have with their own children. That said, there are some general guidelines that can help.</p>
<p>First, parents should get away from ideas about time and focus more on the <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/mediapolicyproject/2016/08/05/the-content-and-context-of-screen-use-is-more-important-than-the-amount-of-screen-time/">content, context and connections</a> provided by different kinds of engagement with media. There’s a world of difference between spending a few hours playing games with close friends online and spending a few hours interacting with hate groups in an online forum. </p>
<p>Second, parents should ask <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2016/10/21/new-screen-time-rules-from-the-american-academy-of-pediatrics/">real questions concerning the well-being of their children</a>, independent of their media use. Are your children healthy, socially engaged, doing well in school and generally happy? If so, there’s probably no need to enforce hard restrictions on technology. If not, it’s best not to rush to conclusions about the inherent evils of technology. Have a conversation with kids about what they’re doing and what they think the rules should be. Unilaterally cutting kids off without understanding their problems can often <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/warning-screen-time-rules-can-backfire_us_5925d374e4b090bac9d46b07">make things worse</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, parents should remember that there’s no substitute for a meaningful, supportive relationship between parents and children. With a stable, trusting relationship, even negative experiences online can become positive learning experiences. In my many years of working with families, I’ve learned that if you already care enough to be worried about digital media, you’re probably already “doing enough” to protect your kids.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176451/original/file-20170630-22617-18kaozg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Monitoring children’s media consumption is important, but there’s no substitute for quality family time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nathaninsandiego/3995036506/">Nathan Rupert</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79538/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Fisk, Ph.D. receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>For decades, parents have fretted over ‘screen time,’ limiting the hours their children spend looking at a screen. But as times change, so does media… and how parents should (or shouldn’t) regulate it.Nathan Fisk, Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity Education, University of South FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/734862017-03-02T09:49:13Z2017-03-02T09:49:13ZHow the humble comic book could become the next classroom superhero<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158986/original/image-20170301-5507-182kquf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shuttertsock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You might think comics are just packed full of superheroes, funny animals and silly jokes, and you wouldn’t be far wrong. But while the term “comic book” might also bring to mind something that is outdated and just for young kids, what you might not know is that comics are being used to great effect in many classrooms and lecture theatres around the world.</p>
<p>And <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21504857.2016.1219957">our recent study</a> shows why, because we found that the use of comic books actually enables students to better remember information. Our research showed that the students that read a comic book version got more memory questions correct compared to when the same information was presented in text format alone – or in a combination of random images and text. </p>
<p>This shows that the way comic books are structured – to include a special combination of words and pictures in a certain sequence – increases students’ ability to remember information. Which was in this case undergraduate level biological psychology. </p>
<h2>Why do comics work?</h2>
<p>There are good theoretical reasons why comics might be better at imparting information to students. A lot of which has to do with what the influential cognitive psychologist, Allan Paivio, called “dual-coding theory”. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158997/original/image-20170301-5497-1mtspnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158997/original/image-20170301-5497-1mtspnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158997/original/image-20170301-5497-1mtspnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158997/original/image-20170301-5497-1mtspnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158997/original/image-20170301-5497-1mtspnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158997/original/image-20170301-5497-1mtspnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158997/original/image-20170301-5497-1mtspnx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Comics: not just for the kids.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shuttertsock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is the idea that we deal better with material which is presented in both a verbal and a visual manner. And Paivio has argued that teachers should make more use of <a href="http://www.csuchico.edu/%7Enschwartz/Clark%20%26%20Paivio.pdf">both types of information</a> in educational settings.</p>
<p>Comics are an ideal “dual-coding medium”. The images and text combine to form a final product that is greater than the sum of its parts. Skilled writers and artists can make even the most abstract material clearer to understand. </p>
<p>This means that the words and pictures act to support each other so that the memory for the material is stronger. And our study supports the “dual-coding” aspect of comics.</p>
<h2>Unique teaching tool</h2>
<p>As part of the research, we used pages from my textbook: <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470870990.html">Biological Psychology – An illustrated Survival Guide</a> which is written in comic book format and aimed at teaching undergraduate students the rudiments of biological aspects of psychology. And there are a number of other books like this already out there – that use a comic format to teach. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158596/original/image-20170227-26298-mpazfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158596/original/image-20170227-26298-mpazfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158596/original/image-20170227-26298-mpazfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158596/original/image-20170227-26298-mpazfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158596/original/image-20170227-26298-mpazfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158596/original/image-20170227-26298-mpazfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158596/original/image-20170227-26298-mpazfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/158596/original/image-20170227-26298-mpazfi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Page from Biological Psychology – An illustrated Survival Guide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Books like <a href="http://www.jayhosler.com/oa_pub.html">Optical Allusions by Jay Hosler</a>, who uses comics very effectively to teach how vision works to college age students, and the <a href="http://www.larrygonick.com/">cartoon guide books by Larry Gonick</a>, which cover topics as diverse as statistics, physics and the history of the universe. </p>
<p>There is also a long history of comics being used as supplementary materials in school settings. And these have ranged from using comics as tools for teaching different subjects like <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/1319401?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">sociology</a>, <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1982-25580-001">perceptual skills</a>, and <a href="http://sheu.org.uk/sites/sheu.org.uk/files/imagepicker/1/eh254pacn.pdf">reading</a>. While more recently the use of comics has been suggested in a number of different disciplines including <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-5661.2009.00376.x/full">geography</a>, <a href="http://www.visuallanguagelab.com/vloc.html">linguistics</a> and even <a href="http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/978-0-271-06649-3.html">medicine</a>.</p>
<p>Some authors have also suggested the benefits of <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002221947600900102">using comics to teach children with learning difficulties</a>. This is because the context from the images can help students to read the words. Students with learning difficulties are also known to do better with <a href="http://typoface.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/typefaces-for-disabilities.html">upper case plain fonts</a>, which are often used in comic book word balloons.</p>
<h2>More than words and pictures</h2>
<p>While this is the first time a study has shown how the use of comics can mean an improvement in the recall of information, other studies also offer support for the use of comics in an educational setting. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.english.ufl.edu/imagetext/archives/v3_3/mallia/">Previous studies</a> have also found that students tend to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3164570/">enjoy learning using comics</a> – which of course is half the challenge when trying to teach students. </p>
<p>So all in all, it seems that comics may well be helpful in enhancing educational experiences. Comic books produced specifically for school-use – that fit in with the curriculum – could be of real value to students, and may actually be better than traditional books.</p>
<p>This may seem at odds with the idea of comics as only good for muscle bound heroes saving the world from super villains. But by separating the usual content of comics from the actual format of comics, it’s clear that they too can have a role to play in the classroom.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73486/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Aleixo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Saving students through the medium of comics.Paul Aleixo, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Sheffield Hallam UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/721462017-02-06T15:14:39Z2017-02-06T15:14:39ZWhy children’s books that teach diversity are more important than ever<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155664/original/image-20170206-18532-dtsp5n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pexels</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you think back to your childhood, what sticks with you? For many people, it’s those cosy times when they were cuddled up with a parent or grandparent, being read a story. </p>
<p>But bedtime stories aren’t just lovely endings to the day or a way to induce sleep, they are also a safe way to experience and discuss all sorts of feelings and situations. So even when children think they’re just being told about an adorable bunny’s adventures, they are actually learning about the world around them. </p>
<p>We know that children’s books can act like both mirrors and windows on the world. Mirrors in that they can reflect on children’s own lives, and windows in that they can give children a chance to learn about someone else’s life. We also know that this type of self-reflection and opportunity to read or hear about different lives <a href="http://blog.leeandlow.com/2013/02/04/what-does-this-book-have-to-do-with-me-why-mirror-and-window-books-are-important-for-all-readers/">is essential for young people</a>. </p>
<p>Research on prejudice shows that coming in contact with people who are different – so-called “others” – helps to reduce stereotypes. This is because when we see people who initially seem different, we learn about them and get closer to them through their story. The “other” <a href="http://www.scholastic.com/bookfairs/readerleader/windows-and-mirrors-why-we-need-diverse-books">seems less far away</a> and, well, less “otherly”.</p>
<p>But while it may be ideal for children to actually meet people from different backgrounds in person, if that isn’t possible, <a href="https://www.hammeronpress.net/shop/books/are-the-kids-all-right-the-representation-of-lgbtq-characters-in-childrens-and-young-adult-literature/">books can serve as a first introduction</a> to an outside world.</p>
<h2>Representing the world</h2>
<p>Despite knowing how important it is for diversity to be represented in our day-to-day lives, many children’s books are still littered with white, male, able-bodied, heterosexual, cisgender, nominally Christian characters. <a href="http://blog.leeandlow.com/2015/03/05/the-diversity-gap-in-childrens-publishing-2015/%20or%20http://weneeddiversebooks.org/faq/">And research suggests that over 80%</a> of characters in children’s books are white – which clearly doesn’t reflect the reality of our world. </p>
<p>All of these reasons are why the <a href="http://weneeddiversebooks.org/">We Need Diverse Books</a> movement was set in motion in 2014, stemming from a discussion between children’s books authors <a href="http://www.ellenoh.com/index1.html">Ellen Oh</a> and <a href="http://www.malindalo.com/">Malinda Lo</a>. The movement aims for more diverse children’s books to actually be created and for these works to be available to young people. And while we need people to actually write them, we also need publishers to produce them, and bookstores, libraries, and schools to stock them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155670/original/image-20170206-18980-163muk4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155670/original/image-20170206-18980-163muk4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155670/original/image-20170206-18980-163muk4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155670/original/image-20170206-18980-163muk4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155670/original/image-20170206-18980-163muk4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155670/original/image-20170206-18980-163muk4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155670/original/image-20170206-18980-163muk4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Getting diverse books into the hands of young readers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pexels.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As someone who researches children’s literature, I think we’d have fewer conflicts in the world if we all read more diverse literature and lived more diverse lives. </p>
<p>I like to think that if we had more diverse children’s books, featuring a broad range of characters in many different jobs and situations, as well as more diverse role models in the media, young people would feel empowered, and they’d believe that when they grow up, they could be anyone and do anything they wanted. And they’d look at their friends and think the same for them, and they’d grow up respecting and appreciating everyone’s talents. </p>
<p>With this mindset present, issues such as race or religion <a href="http://www.childrensliteratureassembly.org/docs/JCL-40-1-Article_Tschida.pdf">wouldn’t even play a subconscious role</a>. And it would mean that within a generation or two, we wouldn’t read articles about appalling and depressing statistics, and we wouldn’t need campaigns to increase diversity in literature, academia, or anywhere else. </p>
<h2>Role models</h2>
<p>But books aren’t just about “others”. When we see people like ourselves in the media, including in fiction, we get a glimpse of who we might become, and we feel validated. We can gain role models and inspiration through literature.</p>
<p>Perhaps partly in response to people’s growing awareness of the need for role models – whether in person or in literature – one young black girl, Marley Dias, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/09/marley-dias-1000-black-girl-books-hits-target-with-outpouring-of-donations">started a campaign</a> to find 1,000 “black girl books”. Dias recommends works such as <a href="http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2014_ypl_woodson.html#.WJh-0LaLR8c">Brown Girl Dreaming</a> by Jacqueline Woodson, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-Crazy-Summer-Rita-Williams-Garcia-x/dp/0060760907">One Crazy Summer</a> by Rita Williams-Garcia, <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Chains.html?id=ilIhcg_MdB4C&source=kp_cover&redir_esc=y&hl=en">Chains</a> by Laurie Halse Anderson and <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Love-Hair-Natasha-Anastasia-Tarpley/dp/0316525588">I Love My Hair</a> by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley.</p>
<p>But I wonder how many of those “black girl books” feature black girls in prominent roles, such as working as professors, doctors, teachers, or even as presidents of nations. I have a suspicion that the percentage would be disappointingly low. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155671/original/image-20170206-18508-u1v1j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155671/original/image-20170206-18508-u1v1j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155671/original/image-20170206-18508-u1v1j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155671/original/image-20170206-18508-u1v1j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155671/original/image-20170206-18508-u1v1j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155671/original/image-20170206-18508-u1v1j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155671/original/image-20170206-18508-u1v1j4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wanted: diverse role models.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Just featuring a minority character isn’t enough to create quality diverse literature, but it is a first step. And while there are some useful websites that <a href="http://weneeddiversebooks.org/where-to-find-diverse-books/">recommend diverse children’s books</a> and even literary awards dedicated to promoting such works, much still needs to be done. </p>
<p>Along with the increased worries today about immigrants, refugees, and general “otherness”, some societies seem to be headed towards a sense of false nostalgia about a time when the world was controlled by whites. </p>
<p>Given this is not how the world is or should be, we owe it to young readers to show them reality in the books they’re reading. Perhaps then the next generation will be less frightened of the “other” if they get to meet them and learn about them from an early age.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72146/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>BJ Woodstein does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What stories can teach children about the world.BJ Woodstein, Senior Lecturer in Literature and Public Engagement, University of East AngliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/720352017-02-02T02:58:11Z2017-02-02T02:58:11ZStereotypes can hold boys back in school, too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155271/original/image-20170201-22566-1z11q1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=396%2C336%2C4363%2C3190&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students of both genders carry around stereotypes about school achievement.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kids-go-school-little-boy-girl-478964521">Children image via www.shutterstock.com.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>By age six, girls are less likely than boys to view their own gender as brilliant and express interest in activities described as for “really, really smart” children, according to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aah6524">2017 research</a> published in Science. </p>
<p>Many <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/health-38717926">major</a> <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/girls-young-six-think-brilliance-boys-study-549034">media</a> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/01/26/research-shows-young-girls-are-less-likely-to-think-of-women-as-really-really-smart/">outlets</a> reported these findings. Most of the coverage, however, overlooked another key finding from the same study: Boys were less likely to say their own gender gets top grades in school. </p>
<p>The beliefs of children matter because they could shape students’ interests and achievement over time, other research suggests. For instance, one 2013 experiment found that telling elementary school children “<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12079">girls do better than boys</a>” in school made boys – but not girls – perform worse on a series of academic tests. These expectations can work both ways: When researchers told children that boys and girls would perform the same, boys’ academic performance improved.</p>
<p>There are real and persistent <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2013.10.011">gender achievement gaps</a> in the U.S. For instance, boys tend to get <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0036620">worse grades</a> than girls, but girls are few among top scorers on <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2010.04.006">standardized math tests</a>. While much research <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2014.10.002">has studied</a> how stereotypes about achievement can make girls underperform, the gaps where boys do worse have often been <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2000/05/the-war-against-boys/304659/">historically overlooked</a>. But stereotypes can harm boys too – just in different ways.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155248/original/image-20170201-29893-10ailxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155248/original/image-20170201-29893-10ailxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155248/original/image-20170201-29893-10ailxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155248/original/image-20170201-29893-10ailxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155248/original/image-20170201-29893-10ailxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155248/original/image-20170201-29893-10ailxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155248/original/image-20170201-29893-10ailxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155248/original/image-20170201-29893-10ailxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even young students hold beliefs about which gender is better at what.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usagrc/8402390855">U.S. Army Garrison Red Cloud</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h1>Who gets the grades, who’s super smart?</h1>
<p>In the Science study on children’s views about brilliance, developmental psychologists asked 144 children aged five to seven years a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aah6524">series of questions</a> about school achievement. For instance, children had to guess which of two unfamiliar boys and two unfamiliar girls “gets the best grades in school.” </p>
<p>Children tended to favor their own gender, but boys did so to a lesser extent. Among seven-year-olds, 79 percent of girls selected girls as the better student, but 55 percent of boys selected boys.</p>
<p>These results sharply contrasted with those about brilliance. When asked to guess who was “really, really smart,” girls instead expressed less confidence in their gender. Among seven-year-olds, 55 percent of girls selected girls as being super smart, but 66 percent of boys selected boys.</p>
<p>In other words, these young children overall held positive beliefs about their gender. But boys were less certain about their gender getting good grades and girls were less certain about their gender being super smart.</p>
<p>Other research has found that, by fifth grade, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12079">both boys and girls say</a> that girls work harder at school, want to learn more, listen better, follow instructions better, are more polite and – perhaps as a result – perform better in school.</p>
<h1>Reality of gender achievement gaps</h1>
<p>Children’s stereotypes reflect reality to an extent. For instance, girls have gotten <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0036620">better school grades in all subject areas</a> for nearly a century, according to a recent synthesis of 308 studies that included over one million students. This female advantage started in elementary school and continued until college.</p>
<p>Girls get better grades, even in <a href="https://nationsreportcard.gov/hsts_2009/gender_gpa.aspx?tab_id=tab3&subtab_id=Tab_1">math and science</a> – two subject areas often assumed to favor boys. Women also <a href="http://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/webcaspar/EmailedTable?table=0131170122245506081">now earn</a> more bachelor’s degrees, master’s degree and – since 2007 – doctoral degrees than men in the U.S.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155074/original/image-20170131-3259-q0hqse.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155074/original/image-20170131-3259-q0hqse.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=252&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155074/original/image-20170131-3259-q0hqse.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=252&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155074/original/image-20170131-3259-q0hqse.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=252&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155074/original/image-20170131-3259-q0hqse.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155074/original/image-20170131-3259-q0hqse.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155074/original/image-20170131-3259-q0hqse.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Girls get better grades even in math and science.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nationsreportcard.gov/hsts_2009/gender_gpa.aspx?tab_id=tab3&subtab_id=Tab_1">U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, High School Transcript Study (HSTS), various years, 1990-2009</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite their advantage in grades and degree attainment, girls are underrepresented among the highest scorers on <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.7604277">standardized mathematics and science tests</a>. For instance, boys <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2013.10.011">typically outnumber</a> girls by between two and four to one among the top 1 percent or higher of math scorers. However, girls tend to slightly outnumber boys among top scorers on <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2010.04.006">standardized reading and writing tests</a>.</p>
<p>Children’s views about who is “really, really smart” therefore partly match the reality of who gets top scores on mathematics (but not reading or writing) standardized tests.</p>
<h1>Self-fulfilling stereotypes</h1>
<p>But children’s stereotypes may do more than merely reflect reality: They may help create that reality through self-fulfilling prophecies. For instance, if girls doubt their gender can be brilliant, girls might then avoid “super smart” activities like advanced math summer camps and then not <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2332858416673617">develop precocious mathematics talent</a>. In other words, stereotypes and reality could mutually strengthen each other.</p>
<p>Consistent with these hypotheses, the new Science study also found that, by age six, girls expressed less interest than boys in games described as for “children who are really, really smart” (though <a href="https://twitter.com/davidimiller/status/825083343838511105">more research is needed</a> to see if stereotypes directly caused this gap in interests). </p>
<p>Stereotypes could negatively affect boys too. As experiments on elementary school children suggest, beliefs about boys’ <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12079">academic inferiority</a> or <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2016.02.008">poor reading ability</a> could make boys underperform on evaluative academic tests. </p>
<p>Teachers’ stereotypes also matter. For instance, teachers’ beliefs that girls are better readers <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037107">predict declines</a> from grade five to grade six in boys’ – but not girls’ – confidence in their reading skills. Researchers also find that teachers often view boys as “<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/bs.acdb.2015.11.001">lazy, disruptive, unfocused, and lacking motivation.</a>” This stereotype about troublesome boys could negatively bias teachers’ perceptions of boys’ learning, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11218-015-9303-0">one experiment</a> found.</p>
<p>These results suggest stereotypes contribute to gender achievement gaps, but they certainly aren’t the only factor at work. For instance, girls’ advantage in grades might also be tied to actual differences in <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.09.001">classroom behavior</a> or <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.1.33">activity level</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OFpYj0E-yb4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Boys’ rowdiness in school — and teachers’ intolerance of it — might also contribute to girls’ advantage in grades, argues philosopher Christina Hoff Sommers.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h1>Maximizing all children’s potential</h1>
<p>Stereotypes could therefore hold back both girls and boys, but in distinct domains. Beliefs about brilliance might deter girls from top intellectual pursuits, but beliefs about grades and classroom behavior might harm boys in school more broadly across the achievement spectrum. </p>
<p>Both sets of findings are important. However, people often appear much less concerned with stereotypes negatively affecting boys than those affecting girls. For instance, <a href="https://www.altmetric.com/details/15836717/twitter">several tweets</a> about this new study described its results about brilliance as “sad” and “depressing,” but its results about grades went largely unnoticed.</p>
<p>Data on boys’ underachievement also have often been <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2000/05/the-war-against-boys/304659/">historically overlooked</a> in media attention and <a href="http://educationnext.org/progress-report/">educational policies</a>. Some writers even <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/real-world-so-called-boy-crisis-disappears/">argue that</a> boys’ educational struggles aren’t “worrisome” because “the workplace is still stacked against [women].”</p>
<p>But it’s not constructive to pit one gender against the other. Recognizing contexts that favor females <a href="https://theconversation.com/some-good-news-about-hiring-women-in-stem-doesnt-erase-sex-bias-issue-40212">doesn’t erase biases</a> against them elsewhere. More importantly, the goal of education should be to maximize all students’ potential and remove obstacles in their way. Regardless of the individual strengths students bring to school, stereotypes shouldn’t determine how far they go. Realizing that goal requires identifying and mitigating how stereotypes can also hold boys back in school.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72035/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Miller receives funding from National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>Recent research raised concerns about girls’ stereotypes on their gender’s lack of ‘brilliance.’ But an overlooked finding suggests boys also hold hindering stereotypes about themselves in school.David Miller, Ph.D. Candidate in Psychology, Northwestern UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/706712016-12-21T11:17:16Z2016-12-21T11:17:16ZHere’s why young children often prefer wrapping paper and boxes to actual presents<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150972/original/image-20161220-26729-1wyuc7e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'OMG, I love this box!'</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We’ve all been there: you spend an unthinkable amount on a child’s toy – lulled by the promise that the interaction with the flashing lights and whooshing noises will excite, stimulate and educate our little people. Yet on the big day, we watch as our child’s interest in the toy quickly diminishes and the attraction of the discarded wrapping paper and packaging takes over. </p>
<p>We watch with confusion as our young children show us the real pleasures of Christmas – not their new shiny toy, but all that is destined for the recycling bin. And as they roll around on the floor in the wrapping paper and jump in and out of the boxes, we question our own sanity in spending ridiculous sums of money on a child who would have clearly preferred a cardboard box for Christmas.</p>
<p>But while our child’s preoccupation with screwed up wrapping paper and packaging may seem barmy to us adults, it is in fact just another way to play – and can help children to learn about themselves and the world around them.</p>
<h2>The psychology of wrapping paper</h2>
<p>At a very early age, children use play to drive their own learning. And when young children are allowed and actively encouraged to explore and follow their own interests, they develop understanding from their actions.</p>
<p>In recent years, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19081142">neuroscientific studies</a> have led to a greater appreciation of the importance of young children’s brain development. These studies have shown us that the first three years of a child’s life are a critical period for learning and development. This confirms a direct relationship between the <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110120090128/http:/povertyreview.independent.gov.uk/media/20254/poverty-report.pdf">quality of experiences young children gain</a> and the growth and development of the brain. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150975/original/image-20161220-26729-14t945w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150975/original/image-20161220-26729-14t945w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150975/original/image-20161220-26729-14t945w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150975/original/image-20161220-26729-14t945w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150975/original/image-20161220-26729-14t945w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150975/original/image-20161220-26729-14t945w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150975/original/image-20161220-26729-14t945w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Just look at this paper!’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, when children explore and experiment with objects such as boxes, paper and ribbons, they are using both their <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19081142">sensory and physical senses</a> to extend their thinking. </p>
<p>“What is this and what can I do with it? Can I fit my hand inside? what else fits in?” – young children’s questioning minds are pivotal to their learning. And engagement in <a href="http://www.ornes.nl/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Play-in-children-s-development-health-and-well-being-feb-2012.pdf">self-directed play helps to aid learning</a> and supports the development of language as well as mathematical, scientific, creative, personal and social concepts. </p>
<h2>The power of play</h2>
<p>In today’s society, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-importance-of-play-what-universities-can-learn-from-preschools-53007">the power of play</a> is frequently misunderstood and underestimated. Children these days have less time to “free play” given that so much of their playtime is structured or involves a parental onlooker.</p>
<p>But young children are physical beings, who gain sensory perceptions and feedback from the whole of their bodies – and these perceptions contribute to essential brain development. So seemingly meaningless actions such as twirling, jumping, rolling and messing around with objects can actually help children to <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2014/05/20/kick-back-relax-and-help-your-children-develop-neural-pathways/">learn about who they are and the world around them</a>.</p>
<p>Through the sensory and physical exploration of the discarded boxes and Christmas wrapping paper, the foundations of learning and cognitive development are occurring. Children become sensitised and motivated to further their explorations, allowing more complex thoughts and understanding to develop. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150974/original/image-20161220-26710-2nqxfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150974/original/image-20161220-26710-2nqxfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150974/original/image-20161220-26710-2nqxfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150974/original/image-20161220-26710-2nqxfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150974/original/image-20161220-26710-2nqxfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150974/original/image-20161220-26710-2nqxfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150974/original/image-20161220-26710-2nqxfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Living the dream.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So a young child who repeatedly fills and empties a box, climbs in and out, puts things in then tips them out, is not just making a mess. Instead they are exploring the “insideness” of the object – which helps them to understand concepts such as capacity, volume and space.</p>
<p>And with this in mind, rather than just filling the toy cupboard with a load of manufactured creations, it is important that young children are also able to make their own discoveries and to construct their own understanding, too. </p>
<p>So this Christmas, make sure your child has a chance to play with all the wrapping paper before it is neatly tidied up and disposed of. Because not only are you helping them to cultivate a desire to learn, you are also helping to develop their <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09669760.2015.1119671">inquisitive resolve and creative expression</a>. </p>
<p>You will also be allowing them the opportunity to strengthen the bits of their brain that are responsible for development – and this will help to ensure they have the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2014/05/20/kick-back-relax-and-help-your-children-develop-neural-pathways/">foundations for future learning</a>. And what could be a better gift than that?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70671/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Brierley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Forget about the expensive gifts, for young children, it’s all about the paper and the packaging this Christmas.Julie Brierley, Lecturer in Early Years & Education, University of HullLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/695702016-12-01T15:40:09Z2016-12-01T15:40:09ZBoredom, alienation and anxiety in the maths classroom? Here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/147889/original/image-20161129-10988-lfuft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A student revising class work in Kenya. The quality of maths teaching in schools can have a profound impact on learner interest.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Thomas Mukoya</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The quest for appropriate teaching and learning practices for children and young people is ongoing and ever present. A major challenge is to make maths teaching more inclusive and maths itself more accessible to a wider cross section of children and young people. This is essential if we are to successfully meet the <a href="http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/education/">UN Sustainable Development Goal</a> of ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education. This in turn is intended to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. </p>
<p>One important imperative is to develop active and participatory approaches that lead to the development of problem solving and thinking skills. This specific issue came to the foreground in two recent research projects – in Scotland and in Ghana – which sought to investigate the quality of mathematics learning. </p>
<p>The Scottish project on <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220272.2014.979233">developing mathematical thinking in the primary classroom</a> was carried out in collaboration with teachers and local authorities. It was set up within a design based research framework, with the aim of promoting classroom-based action research on the part of participants in a Masters level course. </p>
<p>In reporting this research and development work the authors refer to the “epistemic quality” of the mathematics being taught and learned in school. This is the quality of what pupils come to know, understand and become able to do.</p>
<p>In the parallel study, Evelyn Oduro reports similar findings from a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.2678.2165">study of teachers’ assessment practices in Ghana</a>. This study focused on “basic schools” – kindergarten through to junior high – and was conducted in 2011 with a sample of four classroom teachers and two head teachers. It involved a qualitative research design.</p>
<p>From the two sets of research in Scotland and Ghana, it’s clear how high epistemic quality in the classroom can be supported. One can also see how low epistemic quality can be reinforced by external vested interests. These often involve excessive emphasis on high stakes external testing, summative assessment and school league tables. </p>
<h2>Elephant in the classroom</h2>
<p>In the Scottish project the teachers involved experienced very powerful responses to one of the set readings: Jo Boaler’s book <a href="https://www.nationalnumeracy.org.uk/sites/default/files/eitc_character_development_-_updated_branding.pdf">The Elephant in the Classroom</a>. In it she writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have called this book <em>The elephant in the classroom</em> because there is often a very large elephant standing in the corner of maths classrooms. The elephant, or the common idea that is extremely harmful to children, is the belief that success in mathematics is a sign of general intelligence and that some people can do maths and some can’t. </p>
<p>Even maths teachers (the not so good ones) often think that their job is to sort out those who can do maths from those who can’t. This idea is completely wrong and this is why. In many maths classrooms a very narrow subject is taught to children, that is nothing like the maths of the world or the maths that mathematicians use. </p>
<p>This narrow subject involves copying methods that teachers demonstrate and reproducing them accurately over and over again … But this narrow subject is not mathematics, it is a strange mutated version of the subject that is taught in schools.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Fundamentalist approach</h2>
<p>It is argued in the Scottish findings that the process of “mutation” reflects the process of didactic transposition, which can;</p>
<ul>
<li><p>change the mathematical knowledge profoundly such that the knowledge in question is not knowledge for acting and solving problems in the social contexts in which it was created and; </p></li>
<li><p>lead to the epistemic quality of the subject becoming degraded as it is transposed into school mathematics. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>The findings describe this mutated or degraded version of mathematics as being of low epistemic quality. It is characterised by a fundamentalist approach that presents the subject as infallible, authoritarian, dogmatic, absolutist, irrefutable and certain. The degraded version involves right and wrong answers based on superficial imitative memorised and algorithmic reasoning. </p>
<p>In contrast, high epistemic quality is characterised by an approach which presents mathematics as fallible, refutable and uncertain. It also promotes critical thinking, creative reasoning and the generation of multiple solutions. It encourages young people to learn from errors and mistakes. </p>
<p>Creative mathematical reasoning involves novelty, plausibility and mathematical foundation. Creativity is also seen as an orientation or disposition toward activity that can be fostered broadly in school. Such creative reasoning can have many functions in mathematics. These include verification, explanation, systematisation, discovery, communication, construction of theory and exploration.</p>
<p>Low epistemic quality has a dramatic impact on students. It leaves them bored and demotivated. They also experience fear and anxiety and feel alienated from maths as a subject. </p>
<h2>Ghana study findings</h2>
<p>The Ghana study was conducted in a context in which “assessment for learning” was being used as a policy driver to promote higher epistemic quality. The findings illustrate how teachers use both formal and informal assessments in mathematics classrooms. Formal assessment dominates practice. </p>
<p>Of particular relevance were the teachers’ views about the nature of mathematics and the ways in which these can impact so as to degrade the “epistemic quality” of school mathematics. </p>
<p>The findings also highlight the ways in which teachers’ views are related to their classroom practices. What’s very interesting is how teachers’ assessment practices are affected by contextual factors. These factors are related to institutional policies, professional development and classroom conditions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/69570/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Hudson received funding from the Scottish Government from 2010 to 2012 to support the project 'Developing Mathematical Thinking in the Primary Classroom'. </span></em></p>The quality of what pupils come to know, understand and are able to do has a big impact on students. Low quality leads to boredom as well as fear and anxiety about maths as a subjectBrian Hudson, Professor of Education, University of SussexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/682542016-11-15T09:10:26Z2016-11-15T09:10:26ZHow genetics could help future learners unlock hidden potential<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145797/original/image-20161114-5087-gblmar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/30/salman-rushdie-make-children-learn-literature-by-rote/">Salman Rushdie</a> recently caused controversy by bemoaning the lack of “rote learning” in schools. He <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/shortcuts/2016/may/31/is-rushdie-right-about-rote-learning-is-rushdie-right-about-rote-learning">spoke about the benefits</a> of learning poetry by heart – a method many see as archaic and outdated in today’s classroom.</p>
<p>Despite the criticisms of Rushdie’s comments, the debate around the effectiveness of different learning strategies in modern education is as active as ever – with many recognising that each pupil prefers a different learning style and technique. </p>
<p>This can of course make it hard for teachers to gear classes up for each individual’s preferred style of learning. Especially given that one style, such as social learning, can appear to be the exact opposite of another style, such as those who prefer a more solitary style of education.</p>
<p>Research shows that when it comes to <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/content/36/4/1211.short">learning strategy preferences</a> or even <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4910524/">A-level choice</a>, they are pretty hard wired in each individual – with genes playing a large part in the process. And we know that genes can also shape our relationships with other people – whether they be parents, teachers or peers.</p>
<h2>Why genes matter</h2>
<p>“Educational genomics” is a relatively new field, which has been expanding rapidly in the recent years because of advances in technology. It involves using detailed information about the human genome – DNA variants – to identify their contribution to particular traits that are related to education. </p>
<p>And it is thought that one day, <a href="http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137437310">educational genomics</a> could enable educational organisations to create tailor-made curriculum programmes based on a pupil’s DNA profile. </p>
<p>A number of recent <a href="http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/mp2016107a.html">large-scale genetic studies</a> on education-related traits – such as memory, reaction time, learning ability and academic achievement – have identified <a href="http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v21/n6/full/mp201645a.html">genetic variants that contribute</a> to these traits. And <a href="http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v17/n6/full/nn.3716.html">studies</a> using even more advanced technologies are also currently underway, promising to add to our growing knowledge of what helps us to learn. </p>
<p>This information could then be used to find out what DNA variants contribute to reading and mathematical ability, or school achievement. And then used to predict whether or not a pupil is likely to be gifted in a particular field such as music or mathematics, for example. These “traits” could then be nurtured in the classroom.</p>
<h2>A personalised approach</h2>
<p>But despite all the existing evidence for individual differences in learning, genetics is rarely a consideration when it comes to education. Though, recent years have seen a <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/improving-outcomes-personalised-medicine.pdf">rise in funding and research</a> into personalised medicine. This involves “mapping” genetic differences among people to <a href="https://www.nih.gov/precision-medicine-initiative-cohort-program">predict and target potential health issues</a> in later life, which has allowed doctors to adjust treatment and prevention approaches to try and stave off risks before they even begin to develop. </p>
<p>So it wouldn’t be a great leap to use these same databases – and research funding – to advance the field of educational genomics. Meaning that every child in the future could be given the opportunity to achieve their maximum potential. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145798/original/image-20161114-5078-4njxur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145798/original/image-20161114-5078-4njxur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145798/original/image-20161114-5078-4njxur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145798/original/image-20161114-5078-4njxur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145798/original/image-20161114-5078-4njxur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145798/original/image-20161114-5078-4njxur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145798/original/image-20161114-5078-4njxur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It is well-known that hundreds or even thousands DNA variants are involved in complex human traits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But it is also important to bear in mind that our genes do not work in isolation. The human genome is a dynamic system that reacts to the environment. And the role of <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/fam/19/2/294/">the environment in education is just as important</a> to the development of a child. </p>
<p>For example, musical talent can be inherited, but can only be developed as a skill in the presence of specific environmental conditions – such as the availability of musical instrument and hard practice. </p>
<p>And educational genomics aims to uncover this complex relationship – to look at how the genome works in different environments. This information will then help researchers to understand how this interplay affects brain and behaviour across the life of a person.</p>
<p>By considering DNA differences among people in the future, educational genomics could provide the basis for a more personalised approach to education. This would most likely be a much more effective way of educating pupils because educational genomics could enable schools to accommodate a variety of different learning styles – both well-worn and modern – suited to the individual needs of the learner.</p>
<p>And in time, this could help society to take a decisive step towards the creation of an education system that plays on the advantages of genetic background. Rather than the current system, that penalises those individuals who do not fit the educational mould.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68254/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Darya Gaysina does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Educational genomics could mean tailor-made curriculum programmes can be created based on a pupil’s DNA profile.Darya Gaysina, Lecturer in Psychology, University of SussexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/682162016-11-11T02:45:49Z2016-11-11T02:45:49ZHere’s why ‘baby talk’ is good for your baby<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145461/original/image-20161110-25070-qs4dkf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The way you talk to your baby makes a difference.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/elviskennedy/5697684827/in/photolist-9Fu8ci-bC3iKP-47MyG1-cPkwt9-nLtC82-39e5Vq-oszmaM-dw1jJN-qaZYWQ-4FL5Qj-cqGfgU-j8tN5F-j8w6Vq-bxKXxG-oTydkZ-bxKXGs-8JTqfQ-qc5TeG-kJb1Xv-7gxz6p-2yrYH-pH3fc-fNi2S3-kPL9Ce-kJcj3S-nBtX4i-cqGDhA-feS62u-7oZyoa-83cdKb-p9vm1N-qS1kDn-cqGbaf-5gi3z1-bp2C7e-5Ghs5i-6h6ZmM-bp2zFZ-kJaxzz-d2TkzL-kbLn1T-aptmgL-bp2qit-dNC99v-kwngKB-myu5rm-8395rk-a4Vgs7-bWTLWJ-j31KFK">Elvis Kennedy</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When we read, it’s very easy for us to tell individual words apart: In written language, spaces are used to separate words from one another. But this is not the case with spoken language – speech is a stream of sound, from which the listener has to separate words to understand what the speaker is saying. </p>
<p>This task isn’t difficult for adults who are familiar with the words of their language. But what about babies, who have almost no linguistic experience? How do they even begin to separate, or “segment,” individual words from the stream of language that they hear all around them all of the time?</p>
<p>As a researcher interested in early language production, I am fascinated by how babies begin acquiring knowledge of their language, and how parents and other caregivers can support them in this task. </p>
<p>Babies first start learning language by listening not to individual words, but to the rhythm and intonation of the speech stream – that is, the changes between high and low pitch, and the rhythm and loudness of syllables in speech. Parents often exaggerate these features of the language when talking with their infants, and this is important for early language learning. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, some may feel that using this exaggerated speech style is condescending, or unrealistic in comparison to adult speech, and as such does not set babies off to a good start. </p>
<p>Is “baby talk” really good for babies?</p>
<h2>How babies learn</h2>
<p>Even before a baby is born, the process of learning language has already begun. In the third trimester of pregnancy, when the infant’s ears are sufficiently developed, the intonation patterns of the mother’s speech are transmitted through the fluids in the womb. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145462/original/image-20161110-25097-c1rtx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145462/original/image-20161110-25097-c1rtx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145462/original/image-20161110-25097-c1rtx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145462/original/image-20161110-25097-c1rtx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145462/original/image-20161110-25097-c1rtx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145462/original/image-20161110-25097-c1rtx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145462/original/image-20161110-25097-c1rtx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Babies’ learning starts in the womb itself.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/x1brett/5289196287/in/photolist-94ovMr-qyjHb1-68W8wj-burnmq-a77NaF-av4CfQ-dNrU5N-73LB1d-7dZcWj-9uuNjp-a677Te-88HBdg-8UuFDq-8UrADR-4rD7xq-8gdnr1-77nYrx-7M9wqc-7oBQ1Q-4zhbi-7ALRy4-bLETd2-49NhAU-FhvTV-8UuFML-bGG7oX-asP2UD-cB1Rp5-8ERsPg-C3wF6-ajbfmf-8UuFBb-gVRYTM-9J9iuz-9c1b1L-8snG5w-9aC9QK-cLWsb-2SsCN-64w5Jg-5HwTug-6uA2hF-83r6uD-51cKuA-8ERshZ-9aC8xa-oCLoN-8EUCSJ-7oMXTs-dxsaRR">brett jordan</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is thought to be like listening to someone talking in a swimming pool: It’s difficult to make out the individual sounds, but the rhythm and intonation are clear. This has an important effect on language learning. By the time an infant is born, she already has a <a href="http://bernard.pitzer.edu/%7Edmoore/psych199s03articles/Of_Human_Bonding.pdf">preference for her mother’s language</a>. At this stage the infant is able to <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0010027788900352">identify language</a> through its intonation patterns.</p>
<p>For example, French and Russian speakers place emphasis on different parts of a word or sentence, so the rhythm of these two languages sounds different. Even at four days old, babies can use this information to distinguish their own language from an unfamiliar other language. </p>
<p>This means that the newly born infant is ready to start learning the language that surrounds her; she already has an interest in her mother’s language, and as her attention is drawn to this language she begins to learn more about the features and patterns within it.</p>
<h2>Using a singsong voice</h2>
<p>Intonation is also very important to infants’ language development in the first months of life. Adults tend to speak to babies using a special type of register that we know as “baby talk” or “motherese.” This typically involves a higher pitch than regular speech, with wide, exaggerated intonation changes. </p>
<p>Research has shown that babies <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1990.tb02885.x/abstract">prefer to listen</a> to this exaggerated “baby talk” type of speech than typical adult-like speech: <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0163638387900178">They pay more attention</a> when a parent’s speech has a higher pitch and a wider pitch range compared to adult-like speech with less exaggerated pitch features.</p>
<p>For example, a mother might say the word “baby” in an exaggerated “singsong” voice, which holds an infant’s attention longer than it would in a monotonal adult-style voice. Words produced in this way also stand out more from the speech stream, making it easier for babies to pick out smaller chunks of language. </p>
<p>Across the vast stream of language that babies hear around them every day, these distinctive pitch features in baby talk help babies to “tune in” to a small part of the input, making language processing a more manageable task.</p>
<h2>How infants process speech</h2>
<p>Baby talk tends to be spoken at a slower rate, and key words often appear at the end of a phrase. For example, the sentence, “Can you see the doggie?” is preferable to “The doggie is eating a bone”: Babies will learn the word “doggie” more easily when it appears at the end of the phrase. </p>
<p>For the same reasons, words produced in isolation – separated from the rest of the phrase by pauses – are also easier for infants to learn. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027701001226">Research has shown</a> that the first words that infants produce are often those that are heard most frequently in isolation in early development. Babies hear isolated words such as “bye bye” and “mummy” very frequently, and these are often some of the earliest words that they learn to produce. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145457/original/image-20161110-25084-glwgrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145457/original/image-20161110-25084-glwgrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145457/original/image-20161110-25084-glwgrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145457/original/image-20161110-25084-glwgrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145457/original/image-20161110-25084-glwgrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145457/original/image-20161110-25084-glwgrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145457/original/image-20161110-25084-glwgrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How do babies learn language?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/deanwissing/3565255880/in/photolist-6r3SmY-bmGx26-eMZc6J-7RrcWR-6JMMkb-h6GAUp-jUNLtM-6j9Uqc-5Axiq4-aeqPGg-e9XTKU-aEsLyS-6mRMWD-CxWpq-8btsfV-n6WMwF-oYkj2a-9vD26N-6gENiz-e9XUyC-7ACpHo-8ZxQq2-57Tv3S-bC1xZC-4NmMt5-7Cw8wD-eh5jCc-pxXgsu-a1x5SM-2tkwWA-8PybHq-b7rVNV-9uu261-66eN63-cCjWEd-db7jG4-e9Ymn9-4ZfkcN-5Xk1g4-3c5Pg5-9r9dzN-5ZJZAS-e9S3nz-e9SdfF-4BstMe-6ucgMx-2SKyG-4Hzg8r-6hgMSv-dJPZM8">Dean Wissing</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When a word is produced separately from running speech, the infant does not have to segment it from a stream of sounds, and so it is easier to determine where the word begins and where it ends. </p>
<p>Furthermore, <a href="http://scitation.aip.org/content/asa/journal/jasa/128/1/10.1121/1.3419786">infants have been found</a> to recognize words more easily when they are produced more slowly than in typical adult speech. This is because when speech is slower, it is easier for infants to pick out the individual words and sounds, which may be produced more clearly than in faster speech. In addition, infants process language much more slowly than adults, and so it is believed that slower speech gives infants more time to process what they hear.</p>
<h2>How reduplication helps</h2>
<p>Word repetition is also beneficial in infants’ early word learning. Infants’ first words tend to be those which are produced <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-child-language/article/the-ubiquity-of-frequency-effects-in-first-language-acquisition/C62853C18B8CFFD7F20DB8D96A70610D">most frequently</a> in caregiver speech, such as “mummy,” “bottle” and “baby.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145464/original/image-20161110-25077-17wvyut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145464/original/image-20161110-25077-17wvyut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145464/original/image-20161110-25077-17wvyut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145464/original/image-20161110-25077-17wvyut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145464/original/image-20161110-25077-17wvyut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145464/original/image-20161110-25077-17wvyut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145464/original/image-20161110-25077-17wvyut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Words with reduplication are easier to learn for babies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sellerspatton/1241937900/in/photolist-2TKfSq-76Fws-7pP2Sz-pFHN9M-dM5XSP-nQzSy1-5S1iMM-6ygMv9-8noi2Z-kCivw6-5adAjG-4xwyyC-5BaipD-4HsNwP-7ptXS2-8DeXbH-ovEn9L-74b1Ma-4kvJ9c-5vRw8J-dfL7hV-dCYEbJ-qFBNc2-8gdnxC-cS6iuQ-asRFN7-5zXSmc-jvj8W-nwn4bx-2TgowC-agcfSt-feUihs-6Um76z-NbGiP-5WtBHh-39JkuE-dCTfSX-CmtYw-6ZAEsU-6uAoGJ-6bK3M-dCYEej-233tEx-5rbke9-4ockWU-2iykzs-8JUo7G-asRHe3-c1Cs4W-4XvuRa">Sellers Patton</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The more often an infant hears a word, the easier it is to segment it from the speech stream. The infant develops a stronger mental representation of frequent words. Eventually she will be more likely to produce frequently heard words with fewer errors. </p>
<p>Furthermore, reduplicated words – that is, words which contain repetition, such as “woof woof” or “quack quack” – are typical of baby talk, and are known to have an advantage for early word learning. </p>
<p>Even <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/105/37/14222.short">newborn infants</a> show stronger brain activation when they hear words that contain reduplication. This suggests that there may be a strong advantage for these words in human language processing. This is supported by evidence from slightly older infants, who have been found to learn reduplicated words <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15475441.2016.1165100">more easily</a> than non-reduplicated words.</p>
<h2>How ‘baby talk’ helps infants</h2>
<p>So, baby talk is not just a way of engaging with infant on a social level – it has important implications for language learning from the very first moments of a newborn’s life. Features of baby talk present infants with information about their ambient language, and allow them to break up the speech stream into smaller chunks. </p>
<p>While baby talk is not essential to guiding infants’ language learning, the use of pitch modulations, repetition and slower speech all allow infants to process the patterns in their language more easily. </p>
<p>Speaking in such an exaggerated style might not seem conducive to language learning in the longer term, but ample research shows that this speech style actually provides an <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027715301189">optimum input for language learning</a> from the very first days of an infant’s life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68216/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine E. Laing receives funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). </span></em></p>Babies first learn to recognize the rhythm and intonation of language. The process begins in the womb, where the intonation patterns are transmitted to the baby through the fluids.Catherine E. Laing, Postdoctoral Associate, Duke UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/561182016-10-17T10:23:25Z2016-10-17T10:23:25ZHow do children develop a sense of self?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139262/original/image-20160926-31866-1230b9o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Who's that? Understanding it's them in the mirror offers toddlers another sense of perspective.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-461122078/stock-photo-small-kid-staying-by-reflection-and-watching-himself-little-boy-looking-at-himself-near-mirror.html?src=7OJAKc8850hTQqpx2hoUrQ-1-12">Goami/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From the moment they are born, babies are exposed to information that can teach them about who they are. By touching their own face and body, or by kicking and grabbing things, they start to enjoy the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Margaret_Sullivan/publication/232511696_Violation_of_Expectancy_Loss_of_Control_and_Anger_in_Young_Infants/links/004635294e01e38954000000.pdf">influence of their actions on the world</a>. But it is not until children approach their second birthday that they start to develop a sense of self and are able to reflect on themselves from the perspective of somebody else.</p>
<p>One indication of this new objective self-awareness is that children start recognising themselves in a mirror or photograph – something most children do <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279798249_Variability_in_the_early_development_of_visual_self-recognition">by the age of two</a>. This kind of self-awareness can be assessed scientifically by surreptitiously putting a small mark on a child’s forehead, such as by kissing them while wearing lipstick. The child can’t feel the mark so their sense of touch can’t alert them to its presence – but they can see it if they look in a mirror. If the child has the capacity to see themselves as another person would, they will reach up to touch the mark when shown a mirror, indicating that they equate the mirror image with their own body. </p>
<h2>Finding the concept of the ‘self’</h2>
<p>Toddlers also naturally demonstrate their self-awareness by their ability to use and understand self-referential language such as <em>I</em>, <em>me</em>, <em>you</em> and <em>my</em>. Another example is when they claim something as their <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9507.00131/abstract;jsessionid=C0A964746A270876A8BE8D5643B0C0E3.f04t03?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=">own property</a> – the cry of “it’s mine” is the origin of many sibling disputes. </p>
<p>The appearance of <a href="http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/emotions/according-experts/self-conscious-emotions">self-conscious emotions</a> such as embarrassment, pride, guilt and shame also demonstrates that a child is developing self-consciousness. Parents may notice that by the time they are three-years-old, their child is motivated to make amends for wrongdoing, can be proud of their own behaviour, or hides when unhappy about something they have done.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139275/original/image-20160926-31837-1hbnbtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139275/original/image-20160926-31837-1hbnbtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139275/original/image-20160926-31837-1hbnbtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139275/original/image-20160926-31837-1hbnbtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139275/original/image-20160926-31837-1hbnbtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139275/original/image-20160926-31837-1hbnbtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139275/original/image-20160926-31837-1hbnbtb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘It’s my teddybear!’ Self-awareness in action.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-964588/stock-photo-little-girl-in-pyjamas-on-the-bed-holding-her-teddybear-making-faces.html?src=KPPjW-H6u1t1dDU2x0fScQ-2-0">Pauline Breijer/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Toddlers’ ability to think about themselves from the perspective of a second person also marks the start of their acquisition of what’s called “<a href="https://portfolio.du.edu/SusanHarter/page/44342">self-concept</a>” – stable thoughts and feelings about the self. Between their first and second birthdays, children will be able to produce simple self-descriptions and evaluations such as “I am a good boy”, which will become more complex over time. By the time a child is around eight-years-old, they will have a relatively stable idea of their own personality traits and dispositions, and whether they feel like a valuable and competent person.</p>
<p>Individual differences in personality and feelings of self-worth can influence a child’s approach to social situations and academic achievement. Children with positive perceptions of themselves have the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21942279">best social and academic outcomes</a>, perhaps because they focus on success and aren’t deterred by failure. Parents can help their child <a href="http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/social-emotional-development/tips-on-helping-your-child-self-confidence.html?referrer=https://www.google.co.uk/">develop positive self-esteem</a> by reacting positively to them and their achievements, and helping them to overcome negative events. </p>
<p>Psychologists think parents can also shape children’s self-worth right from birth: when they provide a positive response to an infant’s actions it provides them with their first experiences of having a positive impact on the world. </p>
<h2>Influences on memory and learning</h2>
<p>Regardless of how children feel about themselves, adding an “idea of me” to their cognitive architecture changes the way they process information. For example, as adults, we <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-cant-we-remember-our-early-childhood-62325">remember very few</a> childhood events. One intuitive explanation for this “childhood amnesia” is that until memories can be related to our sense of self, they are very difficult to store and retrieve. </p>
<p>Once a child’s sense of self is established, they are more likely to remember information that is related to themselves. This is known as the “self-reference effect” on memory and emerges early on. From at least three-years-old children are more likely to remember objects linked with themselves than those linked with another person. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjdp.12005/full">in one experiment</a>, children between four and six-years-old were asked to sort pictures of shopping items into their own basket, and a shopping basket owned by another person. After the items were sorted, the children were shown a wider selection of shopping items and asked which ones they recognised from the previous game. Children accurately remembered more of the items that they “owned”, than items that had been sorted into the other person’s basket. </p>
<p>The self-reference effect occurs because items linked with the self – such as “my apple” – attract additional attention and memory support within the brain, ensuring that information of potential use to the self is not lost.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139282/original/image-20160926-31862-1g2dfps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139282/original/image-20160926-31862-1g2dfps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139282/original/image-20160926-31862-1g2dfps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139282/original/image-20160926-31862-1g2dfps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139282/original/image-20160926-31862-1g2dfps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139282/original/image-20160926-31862-1g2dfps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139282/original/image-20160926-31862-1g2dfps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Solving educational exercises in the first-person helps children learn.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-218966014/stock-photo-closeup-portrait-of-cute-little-african-boy-with-small-globe-in-hands-preparing-to-geography-lesson-back-to-school-concept.html?src=qWPtUa4pD0Z_wYMWtbJqsg-5-45">Anna Omelchenko/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The self reference effect can be used to help children process and learn information, especially as it emerges early in life. So asking children to think about themselves while generating sentences to practice their spelling – such as sentences beginning with the word “I” – can significantly improve their <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959475215300220">subsequent spelling performance</a>. Putting maths problems in the first-person – for example: “you have four apples more than Tom” – also improves both the <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/edu/89/3/562/">speed and accuracy</a> of children’s responses. </p>
<p>In summary, selfhood starts at birth, but children don’t start expressing an “idea of me” until toddlerhood. Children then start to gather information about themselves and store autobiographical material, starting a life narrative that guides their responses to the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/56118/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children start to demonstrate self-awareness as they approach their second birthday – and it helps them to learn.Josephine Ross, Lecturer in Developmental Psychology, University of DundeeDouglas Martin, Senior lecturer, School of Psychology, University of AberdeenSheila Cunningham, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Abertay UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/657102016-09-27T09:56:51Z2016-09-27T09:56:51ZGroup work gets kids more engaged in STEM<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139342/original/image-20160926-31875-1ludi3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What can be done to get more kids interested in STEM?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-397583227/stock-photo-close-up-of-little-girl-having-fun-focus-is-on-girl-hands.html?src=PCBl5f9Ak13kVf_HPtmzgg-1-1">Child image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Shortage of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) professionals has been an important <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/03/01/supporting-our-youngest-innovators-stem-starts-early">concern in the United States</a>. It is estimated that over the next 10 years, the nation could face a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/fact_sheet_final.pdf">shortage of one million STEM workers</a>. </p>
<p>So, what can we do to get more students interested in STEM?</p>
<h2>STEM starts early</h2>
<p>Research shows that <a href="http://edr.sagepub.com/content/45/1/18.short">science achievement gaps begin very early</a>. Between fourth and eighth grade, the number of children reporting positive attitudes about <a href="http://timss.bc.edu/timss2007/PDF/T07_M_IR_Chapter4.pdf">math</a> and <a href="http://timss.bc.edu/timss2007/PDF/T07_S_IR_Chapter4.pdf">science</a> drops from about 71 percent to about 48 percent.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139333/original/image-20160926-31856-101nlt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139333/original/image-20160926-31856-101nlt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139333/original/image-20160926-31856-101nlt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139333/original/image-20160926-31856-101nlt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139333/original/image-20160926-31856-101nlt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139333/original/image-20160926-31856-101nlt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139333/original/image-20160926-31856-101nlt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Early math activities such as counting can build STEM skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-56610562/stock-photo-little-kid-playing-with-abacus.html?src=6u3PnwRXLCZRjV-UsM1ymA-1-4">Abacus image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Early math skills are the <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/43/6/1428/">strongest predictor</a> of later school success. Simple activities like <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022096513002439">counting</a> and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3289766/">playing with puzzles</a> can <a href="http://groups.psych.northwestern.edu/uttal/vittae/documents/ContentServer.pdf">build children’s STEM skills</a>. </p>
<p>Studies show that preschool children who participated in a 26-week math curriculum had math test scores that <a href="http://aer.sagepub.com/content/45/2/443">improved twice as much</a> as children in a control group with a standard preschool curriculum. Even <a href="http://earlymath.org/earlymath/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Math-Matters-Report_2ndEd1.pdf">talking more about math</a> and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00714.x/full">playing board games</a> can boost preschool children’s STEM abilities. </p>
<p>However, these educational activities are also competing with lots of other things for children’s attention. Less than <a href="http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-06-15/op-ed-integrating-stem-learning-in-early-childhood-education">five percent</a> of classroom time in preschool focuses on STEM-related activities. </p>
<p>I am part of a research team at the University of Washington’s <a href="http://staff.washington.edu/almaster/cv.html">Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences</a>. With my colleagues Sapna Cheryan and Andrew Meltzoff, I have been looking for ways to make STEM more engaging for children.</p>
<p>We found an answer: Make it social.</p>
<h2>Here’s what we did</h2>
<p>We <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2016-42715-001/">ran an experiment</a> to see whether making STEM social would affect children’s motivation. We brought 141 four-year-old children into our lab. They did two activities, a math game and a puzzle game.</p>
<p>For one of these activities, children were made to believe that they were part of a group. Children were required to do the other game all by themselves. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138352/original/image-20160919-11103-j0wv7r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138352/original/image-20160919-11103-j0wv7r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138352/original/image-20160919-11103-j0wv7r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138352/original/image-20160919-11103-j0wv7r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138352/original/image-20160919-11103-j0wv7r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138352/original/image-20160919-11103-j0wv7r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138352/original/image-20160919-11103-j0wv7r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A child about to work on a STEM task in the ‘green’ group.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Allison Master</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Each group had a special color. For example, children in the green group put on a green t-shirt. Then they sat at a green table with a green flag, and took the group’s activity out of a green box. In reality, all children actually completed both activities alone. All that they saw was a poster that showed pictures of other children in the group, all wearing a green t-shirt. </p>
<p>For the other nongroup task, children were also provided with t-shirts of a certain color. There was a poster on the wall with pictures of other children. However, that poster showed children wearing different colored shirts that did not match theirs. For example, if children wore a yellow shirt for the nongroup task, then none of the children on the poster would have a yellow t-shirt. This helped emphasize their solo status. We also reminded them that none of the children on the poster did the same activity as them.</p>
<p>We made the group imaginary because children’s groups in real life can be complicated. With imaginary groups, we could make the experience exactly the same for all children and test how the idea of being part of a group is motivating.</p>
<h2>Impact on motivation</h2>
<p>Our reason for having children believe they were part of a group was based on a simple idea: You are then part of something bigger than yourself. Other people are <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/behavioral-and-brain-sciences/article/understanding-and-sharing-intentions-the-origins-of-cultural-cognition/F9C40BF73A68B30B8EB713F2F947F7E2">working toward the same goal as you</a>. <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0152001">Even young children</a> understand that working together unites people in meaningful ways. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139331/original/image-20160926-31853-1cj51cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139331/original/image-20160926-31853-1cj51cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139331/original/image-20160926-31853-1cj51cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139331/original/image-20160926-31853-1cj51cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139331/original/image-20160926-31853-1cj51cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139331/original/image-20160926-31853-1cj51cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139331/original/image-20160926-31853-1cj51cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children feel more motivated when they are part of a group.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-342072323/stock-photo-group-of-pre-school-children-answering-question-in-classroom.html?src=od4j7oDck9_EOzOlCsTcyw-1-0">Children image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even with an imaginary group, children showed greater motivation for the group task compared to the individual task. Children worked for more time before choosing to quit the group task, and correctly placed more pieces for that task. </p>
<p>Afterwards, we asked children to rate how fun each task was, and how good they were at each one. On average, children rated the group task as more fun and said that they felt like they were better at it. When we asked children to pick which task they liked better, about half the children chose the group task, about one third chose the individual task, and a few had no preference.</p>
<h2>Similar findings from other studies</h2>
<p>Could this effect be due to <a href="http://pps.sagepub.com/content/10/6/886.full">something like random chance</a>? We are confident that this is a real effect for a couple of reasons.</p>
<p>First, in our study, all the children did two different tasks, one in a “group” and the other as an individual. Some children did the math task as their group task and others did it as their individual task. Same for the puzzle task: Some children did it as their group task and others did it as their individual task. </p>
<p>We found children showed greater motivation for whichever task they did as part of a group. On average, they showed greater motivation for the group task about 40 percent of the time, equal motivation on both tasks about 32 percent of the time and greater motivation for the individual task about 28 percent of the time. </p>
<p>So, it’s not something about the particular group task or the children who were put in a group. The exact same children were more motivated, on average, by being in a group than by working as an individual.</p>
<p>Second, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01867.x/abstract">several studies</a> that I conducted with <a href="http://gregorywalton-stanford.weebly.com">Professor Greg Walton</a> at Stanford University came up with similar findings. Those studies also looked at children’s motivation and learning when they were part of a group. In those studies, we found that children persisted longer on a puzzle when they were part of a puzzle group, and learned more new words when they were part of a word-learning group. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139335/original/image-20160926-31847-s75zlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139335/original/image-20160926-31847-s75zlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139335/original/image-20160926-31847-s75zlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139335/original/image-20160926-31847-s75zlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139335/original/image-20160926-31847-s75zlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139335/original/image-20160926-31847-s75zlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/139335/original/image-20160926-31847-s75zlx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children persist longer on a puzzle when they are part of a group.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/criminalintent/14401901954/in/photolist-nWDvGo-e5TdEF-eF6fEB-bv8gWK-fdi1sv-bnt93F-ebAUvZ-aXBWJk-6pypBR-bJphaX-dm5Q3x-bm3W7W-adMQGX-bntgHk-9qRLWE-bKkNkp-e3a8Dj-aZS77e-a2MUY8-acMU5H-ebEMbb-b8LFGe-kHuhep-9uYa1k-bDcCjx-9TukK9-aZXo2x-r41AvX-eavyD4-b5enCv-qLJrmi-9zC2sW-6PRmcJ-iMSTfV-dRRK7S-ef2XJp-a2XcC1-6pyiwZ-f9ei57-fiDzAv-e9DBgK-6pypTD-dS3o9y-6pCy21-9UeF3e-7jU2EN-f4Hfgq-qJ5V65-eeJTag-qYnCby">Lars Plougmann</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And if we combine our results with those studies into a meta-analysis – a study that analyses multiple previous studies – the effect is even stronger, even with imaginary groups and minimal information about the group.</p>
<h2>What parents, teachers can do</h2>
<p>Children spend a large portion of classroom time working independently. For example, one study found that American eighth graders worked individually <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/2003013.pdf">80 percent of the time</a> in math class. </p>
<p>So what does this mean for teachers trying to get students excited about math? For parents trying to get children passionate about puzzles? We have a couple of ideas about how parents and teachers can use these findings to talk about STEM. We haven’t tested these yet, but they send the message that STEM is social.</p>
<p>For example, parents and teachers can use social language such as, “Let’s figure this puzzle out together.” Teachers can also create classroom-wide groups to make sure everyone feels included: “Our whole class does math together.”</p>
<p>Children need to be engaged in STEM before they start <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2015-37516-001/">to lose interest</a>. The <a href="http://mindsetscholarsnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Reduce-Gender-Gaps-in-pSTEM.pdf">image of STEM</a> as <a href="http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00049/full">solitary and isolating</a> is strong in our culture. If we make STEM social, we can help inspire more students to discover their interest in STEM.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65710/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allison Master has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Bezos Family Foundation.</span></em></p>A study with pre-school children found that their motivation and interest improved when they believed they were part of a group.Allison Master, Research Scientist, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/644172016-09-21T23:00:45Z2016-09-21T23:00:45ZHere’s how to raise a child to be sympathetic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138513/original/image-20160920-12453-1xisyhi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children learn to share and show concern from an early age.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/angela7/534883941/in/photolist-PgqmV-db9ZfA-pCdnfD-niFAJi-r9bNr6-c32DuW-abm61S-nyTh7L-G1msq-4c1uBw-81qmKN-qeGypu-4JfpYt-avW6CM-pKvQmN-8xAufS-oYPL7S-8s2XHm-6pyiwZ-q6AgPs-5b495D-p9q1ak-boA4g9-qiAPMQ-6pypTD-9KeAg9-skzdFQ-6pCy21-aiA3ft-9j5Wm3-gkejXq-8K5rif-7jU2EN-cZ975d-qKg2gA-aqMLoh-qJ5V65-poQqWr-e4oaoG-9RJVJ9-8vEXjo-qYnCby-fzi3X3-3R5Hc-o2BUfj-aiJSJd-cskUwC-o1cAjd-nA2BQY-fJRMTE">Angela Sevin</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parents and teachers might often wonder how to teach children caring toward others – more so when the world feels full of disagreement, conflict, and aggression. </p>
<p>As development psychologists, we know that children start to pay attention to the emotions of others from an early age. They <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12028">actively take into account others’ emotions</a> when making decisions about how to respond to them.</p>
<p>Does this mean that children feel sympathy for others from an early age? And is there a way in which parents can teach their children to be sympathetic?</p>
<h2>What is sympathy?</h2>
<p>A feeling of concern for another person, or <a href="http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.665">sympathy</a>, is based on a comprehension of the unfortunate situation and emotional state of another. It often accompanies feelings of pity for the distressed other.</p>
<p>Sympathy is different from empathy, which is more of an “emotional contagion.” If you feel like crying when you see someone else cry, you are experiencing empathy. You might even be overwhelmed by that person’s distress.</p>
<p>And unlike empathy, sympathy involves some distance. So, rather than being overwhelmed, feelings of sympathy might allow individuals to engage in <a href="http://doi.org/10.1037/a0014179">prosocial behaviors</a>, such as helping or sharing.</p>
<p>We start to show concern for others from very early on. For example, babies show <a href="http://doi.org/10.1037/h0031066">basic signs of concern for others</a> in their distressed responses to another infant’s cry, although in the case of babies, it might also be possible that they do not fully understand the <a href="http://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805851">self as a separate entity</a> from others. So, their cry might simply be a case of emotional contagion.</p>
<p>Either way, these are early forms of how we show concern. Later in our lives, these <a href="http://doi.org/10.1348/000712609X442096">advance into more sophisticated sympathy</a> experiences. Rather than just crying for the other crying baby, children begin to think about ways to alleviate the baby’s distress. </p>
<p>This sympathetic response becomes possible because they start to incorporate cognitive understanding of the situation the other person is in. Sympathy goes beyond mere feelings of sadness for others’ distress. Rather, it <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12028">guides our actions</a>.</p>
<h2>What makes kids share</h2>
<p>How do children at different ages engage differently in prosocial behaviors based on their sympathy?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138517/original/image-20160920-12441-1tw7zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138517/original/image-20160920-12441-1tw7zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138517/original/image-20160920-12441-1tw7zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138517/original/image-20160920-12441-1tw7zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138517/original/image-20160920-12441-1tw7zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138517/original/image-20160920-12441-1tw7zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138517/original/image-20160920-12441-1tw7zou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What makes kids share?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gemsling/338385210/in/photolist-vUj8L-e9ansE-5Sz16D-roCJtM-fGPpmv-e6ZCLw-ipC7S-5u18Ud-p7kePV-q4sZQM-oFEpcq-iz1gpg-qLqacw-6fRQtM-4z5xYa-5RNJrq-mRVRox-gwmAC2-cyuWUb-5qGWcy-pKvQmN-8k5yhV-eaccdM-axuqHH-e9XJMS-HTmMEu-pnVp19-5LDsRZ-oFDQUj-oFE49C-88bgji-e7j6TF-xwRxaj-8Fxnf6-9ob4cn-5PhNS7-5ibwMR-5LYcAd-tBgQS-jmNsRp-9NMKvf-5arx9x-svCmQU-53NiWz-dgPgB6-qekrHp-gwmN7H-5peBY-mVofLV-cKy49j">Nathan</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To understand, we conducted <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/0165025414567007">a study</a> to see how children shared. In our study, 160 four- and eight-year-old children received six equally attractive stickers. They were then given an opportunity to share any number of those stickers with a hypothetical child in a picture. </p>
<p>Children were shown multiple pictures that depicted four different conditions, which included “needy” recipients and “not needy” recipients. The needy recipient was described as,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“She/he has no toys,” “She/he is sad.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>And the non-needy or neutral recipient as,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“This girl/boy is four/ eight years old, just like you.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>What we found was that children tended to share more stickers with a needy recipient. What we also found was that eight-year-old children shared on average 70 percent of their stickers with the needy recipient (versus 47 percent with the neutral recipient). The four-year-olds shared only 45 percent of their stickers in the needy condition (versus 33 percent in the neutral condition).</p>
<p>What makes eight-year-olds share more than two-thirds of their own stickers with the needy recipient, while four-year-olds share only about half of them?</p>
<h2>Sharing thoughtfully</h2>
<p>The answer to this question can be found in children’s growing abilities to put themselves in others’ shoes. Besides feeling concern for others, being able to comprehend the circumstances of others can enhance helping or sharing behaviors that are <a href="http://orca.cf.ac.uk/33048/">sensitive toward the condition of others</a>. </p>
<p>For example, as our study demonstrated, older children shared more stickers with a peer who looked sad and had fewer toys even by giving up their own. This is different from simply sharing equal numbers of stickers with peers regardless of each one’s personal circumstance.</p>
<p>The point is that children could show emotional empathy early on, but as they develop “perspective-taking ability,” they tend to show higher levels of sympathy. Perspective-taking ability means knowing that others can have desire, knowledge and emotion that are different from their own and that those come from their point of view. </p>
<p>For example, a child who wants to play baseball would understand that his friend has a different desire – perhaps to play football. Or that another friend who is smiling in front of his parents is, in fact, hiding his disappointment because he did not get the birthday gift he really wanted. </p>
<p>In this regard, a recent <a href="http://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000140">review study</a> that summarized the findings of 76 studies conducted during the last four decades from 12 different countries came up with the following findings: </p>
<p>The study looked at a total of 6,432 children aged between two and 12 years to find out how children’s perspective-taking abilities and prosocial behavior were related to each other. Results revealed that children with higher ability to take another person’s point of view showed more prosocial behaviors, such as comforting, helping and sharing.</p>
<p>Furthermore, when they compared preschool-aged children between two and five years of age versus children aged six and above, they found that this relationship became stronger as children got older.</p>
<p>As children are <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12028">increasingly able to use contextual information</a> they become more selective about when and how to help others. That is what our study showed as well: Eight-year-old children take into account the recipient information and make more selective sharing decisions guided by their sympathy.</p>
<h2>Enhancing sympathy in children</h2>
<p>The question is, could we encourage children to become sympathetic toward others? And could children learn the best way to help keeping in mind the unique circumstances of others? </p>
<p>The ability to feel concern for others is one of the key characteristics that make us human. Sympathy binds individuals together and increases cooperation among the members of the society. This has been observed in developmental research.
For example, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0052017">in a long-term study</a> conducted with 175 children, we found that when children showed high levels of sympathy at age seven, they were better accepted by peers and shared more with others up to age nine.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138519/original/image-20160920-12489-11img48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/138519/original/image-20160920-12489-11img48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138519/original/image-20160920-12489-11img48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138519/original/image-20160920-12489-11img48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138519/original/image-20160920-12489-11img48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138519/original/image-20160920-12489-11img48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/138519/original/image-20160920-12489-11img48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What can parents do?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kjd/2188617394/in/photolist-4kpeGE-dAgni7-q4AULz-bUhksP-gZm1ES-pGNS6B-44KHLe-6wMEMG-6T9H6u-dK1Gev-62XRBw-q4AWnF-at6Um5-pMpw7R-5pLkBK-afSQcv-H6KzCt-kmHVcG-cDRh1u-4m2D7F-8oF78B-p7Zb4C-q4AVNz-73UGq8-q4UAQ9-dMWV6F-6a85ax-pMpwyx-qKLQ1t-qGyxkU-3czyVT-pMohNj-6gwFd6-p4p3Pp-8kWBdC-FpALA1-q4Ly4X-fBY9dP-hQmQ42-pMrcC5-bntcuo-82YcAd-dpkagp-8azuK4-pMoh81-bAo4RX-7YJqM8-r64jtj-4AHGar-fiC4Uv">Kim Davies</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, one of the things that we can do to facilitate sympathy in young children according to developmental research is to use what is called <a href="http://samples.sainsburysebooks.co.uk/9781136698477_sample_866888.pdf">inductive reasoning</a>. Inductive reasoning implies that parents and teachers emphasize the consequences of a child’s behavior during a social interaction. For example, when a child grabs a toy from his friend, the caregiver could ask the child, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“How would you feel if your friend took away a toy from you?” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This can encourage children to reflect on how their own actions may affect others’ thoughts and feelings. <a href="http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam032/99029669.pdf">This can facilitate sympathy</a>. </p>
<p>Researcher <a href="http://telethonkids.org.au/our-people/staff-student-index/f/brad-farrant/">Brad Farrant</a>, who, along with his colleagues, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1002/icd.740">studied the relationship</a> between parenting and children’s helping and caring behaviors, came up with similar findings.</p>
<p>Farrant studied 72 children between ages four and six. The study found that children showed more actions of helping and caring when mothers encouraged their children to see things from another child’s perspective. For example, if a child was “picked on” by another child, mothers who encouraged perspective-taking would guide their child to try and work out why the other child was picking on the child. </p>
<p>Telling a child he should help and share with others could be one way of teaching him how to be a good member of a society. However, thoughtfully engaging in conversations with the child about others’ needs, feelings, and desires could go one step further – it could help children develop sympathy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64417/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tina Malti currently receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ju-Hyun Song does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children feel sympathy for others from an early age. Two development psychologists explain how children can learn, based on feelings of sympathy, how to act more thoughtfully.Tina Malti, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of TorontoJu-Hyun Song, Post Doctoral Fellow, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/647032016-09-02T13:28:22Z2016-09-02T13:28:22ZMany children aren’t physically ready to start school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/136437/original/image-20160902-20228-1u3e9hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">almgren/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The age at which children start school <a href="https://theconversation.com/hard-evidence-at-what-age-are-children-ready-for-school-29005">varies across the world</a>. In Sweden, Denmark and Finland formal education starts at age seven, while in the UK, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7234578.stm">children often start</a> as young as four. This raises ongoing questions over school readiness and whether British children are sufficiently emotionally, socially and physically developed to start school. </p>
<p>Many children will have attended some degree of nursery education prior to starting school in the UK, thanks to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/increasing-free-childcare-wont-be-as-easy-as-a-b-c-42837">roll out</a> of free nursery places for three-year-olds (and two-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds). Physical development is now one core component of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/early-years-foundation-stage">Early Years Foundation Stage Framework</a>, the equivalent of the national curriculum for three- to five-year-olds. </p>
<p>A child who is physically well-developed – able to perform fine and gross motor skills appropriate to their age – is more able to sit up straight, sit still, pay attention and has the fine motor control necessary for holding a pencil and writing. </p>
<h2>Coordination problems</h2>
<p>But our <a href="http://www.lboro.ac.uk/media-centre/press-releases/2016/september/research-finds-4-year-olds-are-not-physically-ready-to-start-school.html">ongoing research indicates</a> that many children are not physically equipped to cope with school life, and their lack of readiness could be affecting their ability to learn. </p>
<p>In September 2015, my colleague Pat Preedy and I assessed 46 children who had just started at two schools (ten from an independent school and 36 from a state school) across a series of tests. This included the Movement ABC, a standardised set of tests often used to establish movement difficulties. </p>
<p>Within this sample, we found that just under a third of the children were starting school with movement difficulties which could affect their learning and behaviour. Of the children in our sample, 21% had significant movement difficulty. For another 8%, their physical development was below what might be expected for their age, meaning they may be at risk of developing future coordination problems. </p>
<figure>
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</figure>
<p>In a follow-up survey with a group of 26 teachers, 96% believed young children’s physical development as they start school has declined in recent years. The majority (80%) believed that this decline had happened in the last three to six years. </p>
<h2>Sedentary young lives</h2>
<p>These initial findings indicate that children currently are starting school less physically developed than they have been in previous years. One potential explanation might be a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13575270500340234">lack of appropriate experiences</a> of movement and physical activity early in life. At a time when there are <a href="https://www.bhf.org.uk/publications/statistics/physical-activity-statistics-2015">increasing concerns</a> regarding inactivity and sedentary behaviour in children, an inactive lifestyle early in life may be contributing to a lack of “school readiness” in young children. </p>
<p>Another reason, is that children are also spending less time outdoors than they used to. One 2014 <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/10747841/Children-spend-less-than-30-minutes-playing-outside-a-week.html">survey by Mothercare</a> of 1,000 parents, found a quarter spend less than 30 minutes a week playing outside. In order to help develop good movement, children need to be climbing, crawling, rolling and experiencing what grass feels like between their toes. </p>
<p>There are also reports of an increase in sedentary behaviour for young people. The number of hours that young children now spend looking at screens is especially worrying. One survey by the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-32067158">market research firm Childwise</a>, said the amount of time children between five and 16-years-old spend in front of a screen has doubled in the last two decades. </p>
<p>Research continues to find the best ways of making sure children are physically ready for school. Our ongoing research is looking at a “Movement for Learning” programme, designed to provide a daily dose of the movement that children may have missed out on earlier in life, such as tummy time, crawling, opportunities to balance, jump, hop and play ball games. </p>
<p>Early indications from the teachers we’ve interviewed who have been piloting the programme over the 2015-16 academic year are that it’s had a positive effect on children’s handwriting, their ability to follow instructions and their general readiness for learning. With the right input at the right time and opportunities to develop physically, young children will be given a better start in life and a better start to their school life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64703/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Duncombe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If children aren’t sufficiently coordinated, it could affect their ability to learn.Rebecca Duncombe, Teaching Fellow in PE and Sport Pedagogy, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/596152016-08-15T11:40:24Z2016-08-15T11:40:24ZWhy we should talk to children about race<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133260/original/image-20160805-478-g68myz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s a situation that many parents dread. Encountering a black man in the street for the first time, a white child might loudly ask something like: “Mummy, why does that man have dirty skin?” After cringing, shushing, or offering a distraction, parents may wonder where this kind of question has come from, how to deal with the situation or indeed avoid it in the future.</p>
<p>From a surprisingly early age, children can distinguish between faces from different racial groups. By the time they are three months old, experiments have shown that white, black, and Asian infants <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16466424">tend to look longer at faces from their own racial group</a> or familiar racial groups compared to faces from other, less familiar racial groups. By three to four years old, children <a href="http://spp.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/08/03/1948550615598379.abstract">can consistently and accurately identify others by race</a>. The ability to differentiate between people on the basis of race improves with age, with <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2010-02829-002">teenagers</a> and adults <a href="http://psych.colorado.edu/%7Etito/Ito%26Urland2003.pdf">automatically and effortlessly categorising others</a> on the basis of skin colour.</p>
<h2>Choosing to be colourblind</h2>
<p>In many societies there is a widespread belief that individuals should receive the same treatment regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, and ability. Partly in an attempt to appear egalitarian, many adults adopt a <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/culturally-speaking/201112/colorblind-ideology-is-form-racism">“colourblind”</a> approach to race – avoiding mentioning race under the guise that if one doesn’t “see” race, then one cannot be considered racist. For example, <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/content/17/11/949.short">in studies</a> using a photo identification game, white participants asked to identify a particular face from an array of faces are less likely to use race to describe the faces, particularly when paired in the task with a black partner. </p>
<p>The norms enforced by this behaviour have now become so entrenched that adults tend to find situations that force them to talk about race extremely <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp954918.pdf">uncomfortable and anxiety-provoking</a>, leading to a complete avoidance of the topic in social interactions. </p>
<p>Even when interacting with their young children, parents avoid race. In one study that observed the way parents read a storybook created to raise issues about race relations and racial prejudice with their four to five-year-olds, the majority of parents tended <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22537347">not to mention race</a>, despite it being the theme of the book. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129391/original/image-20160705-823-1t9c2o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129391/original/image-20160705-823-1t9c2o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129391/original/image-20160705-823-1t9c2o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129391/original/image-20160705-823-1t9c2o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129391/original/image-20160705-823-1t9c2o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129391/original/image-20160705-823-1t9c2o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129391/original/image-20160705-823-1t9c2o1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Let’s talk about race.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-388495138/stock-photo-geography-worldwide-explorer-continent-country-concept.html?src=ZSfWBS-PFMPybiHZj3gxdA-1-59">www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But ignoring race does not make it go away. Like adults and older children, young children are aware of race even if no one seems to be talking about it. This may lead young children to ask questions about racial differences, which are sometimes embarrassing and untimely, in order to gain a better understanding of the world around them. </p>
<p>Only after having acquired a better understanding of social norms regarding race, at around ten years old, do <a href="http://www.ase.tufts.edu/psychology/sommerslab/documents/raceInterApfelbaumDevPsych2008.pdf">children also begin to show colourblind behaviour</a> and avoid using race to identify the target in a photo identification task. Like adults, older children avoid mentioning race even at the expense of how well they might perform in the task at hand. </p>
<p>But taking a colourblind approach to race is not the best way to promote equality and reduce racial prejudice. Studies with white people who avoid talking about race <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/psp954918.pdf">show less friendly behaviour</a> when playing a photo identification task with a black partner compared to a white partner. Like adults, nine to 12-year-olds also tend to find situations where they have to talk about race <a href="http://spp.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/08/03/1948550615598379.abstract">uncomfortable, nerve-wracking, and unpleasant</a>.</p>
<h2>A new approach</h2>
<p>But if colourblindness – and the tendency to avoid talking about race – impacts on relationships between diverse people, what approach should we take in order to resolve racial inequalities? The answer lies in embracing and celebrating our racial differences instead of minimising or even altogether ignoring them. </p>
<p>Fully recognising the multiculturalism in our society appears to be a better strategy. For example, in one study children who were read a story that placed value in racial diversity were found to be <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2010/09/28/0956797610384741.abstract">more likely to identify acts of racial discrimination</a> and more likely to sit next to racially diverse peers in the school lunch room. In another study, white adults who adopted a multicultural approach (as opposed to a colourblind approach) <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002210311100240X">showed less prejudiced behaviour when conversing with an Asian partner</a> about racism and diversity. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129388/original/image-20160705-817-81ja50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129388/original/image-20160705-817-81ja50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129388/original/image-20160705-817-81ja50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129388/original/image-20160705-817-81ja50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129388/original/image-20160705-817-81ja50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129388/original/image-20160705-817-81ja50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129388/original/image-20160705-817-81ja50.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We need to see the world in colour.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-101952727/stock-vector-a-colorblind-world.html?src=dt_last_search-5">www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our concerns about discussing race can be reduced by placing more value in racial diversity, resulting in <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/content/20/7/838.abstract">less stressful and more successful interactions</a> with people from racial groups different from our own. As a caveat, most of the research mentioned in this article has focused primarily on the reactions of white participants. So there is more work to do researching attitudes and behaviour in diverse contexts with individuals who identify as racial minority group members. </p>
<p>For children, curiosity about their surroundings and the people they meet comes naturally. Rather than brushing aside children’s questions about race in an attempt to avoid social embarrassment, we ought to embrace and celebrate the differences that make us unique, remarkable, and that colour the world we live in. </p>
<p>Talking with children about race from an early age may not only derail embarrassing questions, but may, more importantly, serve to increase children’s comfort when interacting with people from different racial and ethnic groups – and increase the comfort of those they are interacting with too. </p>
<p>Given that we live in a society that is becoming increasingly diverse, children will be expected to interact with individuals from many racial and ethnic backgrounds. Children need to be prepared for this future – one way to do this is to encourage them to see this diversity as a positive feature of their worlds. It’s time to talk about race.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59615/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As they grow up, children learn not to talk about race, but a positive emphasis on diversity is better than teaching colourblindness.Amanda Williams, Lecturer in Psychology of Education, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/614772016-08-05T01:31:34Z2016-08-05T01:31:34ZWhy it’s hard for adults to learn a second language<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133176/original/image-20160804-473-32tg9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What makes some individuals good at learning languages?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-189291665/stock-photo-four-smiley-fingers-on-a-blackboard-saying-hello-in-english-french-chinese-and-spanish.html?src=krP6IKDXD-q2R3ZjJ93tPw-1-68">Language image www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As a young adult in college, I decided to learn Japanese. My father’s family is from Japan, and I wanted to travel there someday. </p>
<p>However, many of my classmates and I found it difficult to <a href="http://www.jimflege.com/files/Flege_Yeni-Komshian_age_constraints_JML_1999.pdf">learn a language in adulthood</a>. We struggled to connect new sounds and a dramatically different writing system to the familiar objects around us. </p>
<p>It wasn’t so for everyone. There were some students in our class who were able to acquire the new language much more easily than others. </p>
<p>So, what makes some individuals “good language learners?” And do such individuals have a “second language aptitude?” </p>
<h2>What we know about second language aptitude</h2>
<p>Past research on second language aptitude has focused on how people perceive sounds in a particular language and on more general cognitive processes such as <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/lang.12011/full">memory and learning abilities</a>. Most of this work has used paper-and-pencil and computerized tests to determine language-learning abilities and predict future learning. </p>
<p>Researchers have also studied brain activity as a way of measuring linguistic and cognitive abilities. However, much less is known about how brain activity predicts second language learning. </p>
<p>Is there a way to predict the aptitude of second language learning?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133177/original/image-20160804-484-gs32u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133177/original/image-20160804-484-gs32u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133177/original/image-20160804-484-gs32u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133177/original/image-20160804-484-gs32u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133177/original/image-20160804-484-gs32u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133177/original/image-20160804-484-gs32u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133177/original/image-20160804-484-gs32u4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How does brain activity change while learning languages?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-135434942/stock-photo-road-map-of-the-mind-conceptual-image-roads-and-streets-making-up-a-human-brain.html?src=HJ_bIcrDLDdPd8lCaWQHdg-1-43">Brain image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a 2016 study, <a href="http://ilabs.washington.edu/institute-faculty/bio/i-labs-chantel-prat-phd">Chantel Prat</a>, associate professor of psychology at the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences at the University of Washington, and I <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093934X15300833">explored how</a> brain activity recorded at rest – while a person is relaxed with their eyes closed – could predict the rate at which a second language is learned among adults who spoke only one language.</p>
<h2>Studying the resting brain</h2>
<p>Resting brain activity is thought to reflect the organization of the brain and it has been linked to <a href="http://ac.els-cdn.com/0013469469901886/1-s2.0-0013469469901886-main.pdf?_tid=3db84b64-583d-11e6-a78e-00000aab0f27&acdnat=1470093253_56e73e470a62523073ba880ee7061a7d">intelligence</a>, or the general ability used to reason and problem-solve.</p>
<p>We measured brain activity obtained from a “resting state” to predict individual differences in the ability to learn a second language in adulthood.</p>
<p>To do that, we recorded five minutes of eyes-closed resting-state electroencephalography, a method that detects electrical activity in the brain, in young adults. We also collected two hours of paper-and-pencil and computerized tasks.</p>
<p>We then had 19 participants complete eight weeks of French language training using a computer program. This software was developed by the U.S. armed forces with the goal of getting military personnel functionally proficient in a language as quickly as possible. </p>
<p>The software combined reading, listening and speaking practice with game-like virtual reality scenarios. Participants moved through the content in levels organized around different goals, such as being able to communicate with a virtual cab driver by finding out if the driver was available, telling the driver where their bags were and thanking the driver.</p>
<p>Here’s a video demonstration:</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/piA6dMkBroQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Nineteen adult participants (18-31 years of age) completed two 30-minute training sessions per week for a total of 16 sessions. After each training session, we recorded the level that each participant had reached. At the end of the experiment, we used that level information to calculate each individual’s learning rate across the eight-week training.</p>
<p>As expected, there was large variability in the learning rate, with the best learner moving through the program more than twice as quickly as the slowest learner. Our goal was to figure out which (if any) of the measures recorded initially predicted those differences.</p>
<h2>A new brain measure for language aptitude</h2>
<p>When we correlated our measures with learning rate, we found that patterns of brain activity that have been <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093934X03000671">linked to linguistic processes</a> predicted how easily people could learn a second language.</p>
<p>Patterns of activity over the right side of the brain predicted upwards of 60 percent of the differences in second language learning across individuals. This finding is consistent with previous research showing that <a href="http://journals.lww.com/neuroreport/Abstract/1997/12010/Anatomical_variability_in_the_cortical.30.aspx">the right half of the brain</a> is more frequently used with a second language.</p>
<p>Our results suggest that the majority of the language learning differences between participants could be explained by the way their brain was organized before they even started learning.</p>
<h2>Implications for learning a new language</h2>
<p>Does this mean that if you, like me, don’t have a “quick second language learning” brain you should forget about learning a second language? </p>
<p>Not quite.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133178/original/image-20160804-473-1aro24p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133178/original/image-20160804-473-1aro24p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133178/original/image-20160804-473-1aro24p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133178/original/image-20160804-473-1aro24p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133178/original/image-20160804-473-1aro24p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133178/original/image-20160804-473-1aro24p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/133178/original/image-20160804-473-1aro24p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Language learning can depend on many factors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-434124805/stock-photo-asian-kid-learning-english-in-classroom.html?src=2roCgcubbDGRVq3TrBTFhw-1-52">Child image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>First, it is important to remember that 40 percent of the difference in language learning rate still remains unexplained. Some of this is certainly related to factors like attention and motivation, which are known to be reliable predictors of learning in general, and of <a href="http://web3.apiu.edu/researchfile/Research%20Materials/Teaching%20Method%20and%20Student%20English%20Learning%20Performance/Student%20learning%20attitudes%20or%20motivation/Attitudes,%20motivation%20and%20second%20language%20learning.pdf">second language learning in particular</a>.</p>
<p>Second, we know that people can change their resting-state brain activity. So training may help to <a href="http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0149763413002248/1-s2.0-S0149763413002248-main.pdf?_tid=b2641376-5a86-11e6-8931-00000aab0f01&acdnat=1470344704_0174549f303f0fa340e3b867668a229a">shape the brain</a> into a state in which it is more ready to learn. This could be an exciting future research direction. </p>
<p>Second language learning in adulthood is difficult, but the benefits are large for those who, like myself, are motivated by the desire to communicate with others who do not speak their native tongue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61477/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This project was funded by a grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONRBAA13-003) entitled “Training the Mind and Brain: Investigating Individual Differences in the Ability to Learn and Benefit Cognitively from Language Training.”</span></em></p>Researchers have found that some individuals have a ‘language aptitude,’ which depends on how their brain is organized.Brianna Yamasaki, Ph.D. Student, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/614912016-08-04T01:29:03Z2016-08-04T01:29:03ZMusic training speeds up brain development in children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132969/original/image-20160803-12211-1vsph13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How does music training in early childhood help the developing brain?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/2566174938/in/photolist-4ULjpu-bZBBrs-biP2cZ-bZBKFm-9m2Z7x-fDW1Wy-fDXP7K-frgvvr-fqqddH-fFMSvb-fF4w5x-ftV1tf-hZWgzV-fBbaqt-fHmskB-fGQGn2-fGB3A1-aXWVUn-fAy4wz-b9tfcx-aocv6i-bFkp2r-7oAg1t-6dBhv9-6tAWaQ-6Un1H6-Nskbe-kgf8py-53x7Ph-kgfcAj-8BDfEM-frYhFF-fJNkLG-fPpTm4-fyjPgE-v4GdZa-fxDXrR-fpEWat-fPUCVg-fAYErN-3nsYV-5UtQYd-vYf8eE-5uxsEC-bZBAuL-bZByej-bZBAKC-bZBBBb-bZBLLd-bZBAcq">woodleywonderworks</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Observing a pianist at a recital – converting musical notations into precisely timed finger movements on a piano – can be a powerful emotional experience. </p>
<p>As a researcher of neuroscience and a pianist myself, I understand that the mastering of this skill not only takes practice, but also requires complex coordination of many different brain regions. </p>
<p>Brain regions – that are responsible for our hearing, sight and movement abilities – engage in an amazing symphony to produce music. It takes coordinating both hands and communicating emotionally with other players and listeners to produce the magical effect. The combination of such demands is likely to influence brain structures and their functions. </p>
<p>In our lab, we want to understand whether music training during childhood
improves brain functions for processing sound more generally. These functions
are important for the development of language and reading skills.</p>
<h2>Music training and brain</h2>
<p>Over the past two decades, several investigators have <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14534258">reported</a> <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23141061">differences</a> in the brain and behavior of musicians compared to nonmusicians. </p>
<p>Music training has been found to be related to better <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0003566">language</a> and <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2000-03755-001">mathematical</a> skills, higher IQ and overall greater <a href="http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/%7Ew3psygs/JEdPsych2006.pdf">academic achievement</a>. Also, differences between musicians and nonmusicians have been found in areas of the brain related to <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/content/23/27/9240.short">hearing</a> and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2948283/">movement</a>, among others. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132972/original/image-20160803-12220-1vbteoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132972/original/image-20160803-12220-1vbteoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132972/original/image-20160803-12220-1vbteoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132972/original/image-20160803-12220-1vbteoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132972/original/image-20160803-12220-1vbteoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132972/original/image-20160803-12220-1vbteoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132972/original/image-20160803-12220-1vbteoz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Music training helps develop many other skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/7005060494/in/photolist-bF1Lr5-en1jLS-eo6xe5-eo2q2A-emZSdb-en1a2s-eVUfgZ-emU5sm-eo6pjG-dt1f7K-eo4sAb-8LxkL5-aYHL8z-6xe2Xo-eo4tmh-en1zoC-en1QiE-en2nA7-emUYVq-emBZ9k-emTgAd-emVUXw-en1G9o-emSzVw-emVfu3-en2eVL-entDkp-eo4pnw-eo6t21-eo3PZN-ensYin-eo3giS-ente8H-ensGka-enw3iP-eo1D33-eo6vSo-en2gKC-eo6Du3-en1bDU-en1C2y-eo6pWY-entztz-envX2D-emVPTL-en1d7C-eo3hPN-emUTCC-ensjqn-en1hFf">woodleywonderworks</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, the interpretation of the findings remains unclear. For example, the differences reported between adult musicians and nonmusicians might be due to long-term intensive training or might result primarily from inherent biological factors, such as genetic makeup. </p>
<p>Or, as with many aspects of the nature-versus-nurture debate, the differences may well result from contributions of both environmental and biological factors.</p>
<p>One way to better understand the effects of music training on child development would be to study children before they start any music training and follow them systematically after, to see how their brain and behavior change in relation to their training. </p>
<p>It would involve including a comparison group, as all children change with age. The ideal comparison group would be children who participate in equally socially interactive but nonmusical training, such as sports. Follow-up assessments after their training would reveal how each group changes over time.</p>
<h2>Impact of music training on child development</h2>
<p>In 2012, our research group at the <a href="http://dornsife.usc.edu/bci/">Brain and Creativity Institute</a> at University of Southern California began a five-year study that did just that.</p>
<p>We began to investigate the effects of group-based music training in 80 children between ages six and seven. We have continued to follow them, to explore the effects of such training on their brain, cognitive, social and emotional development. </p>
<p>We started the study when one group of children were about to begin music training through the <a href="http://www.laphil.com/education/yola/hola">Youth Orchestra Los Angeles program</a>. This free community-based music program was inspired by <a href="https://www.elsistemausa.org/">El Sistema</a>, a music program that was started in Venezuela and proved to be “tranformative” in changing the lives of underprivileged children. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132973/original/image-20160803-12201-103dvf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132973/original/image-20160803-12201-103dvf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132973/original/image-20160803-12201-103dvf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132973/original/image-20160803-12201-103dvf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132973/original/image-20160803-12201-103dvf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132973/original/image-20160803-12201-103dvf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132973/original/image-20160803-12201-103dvf4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What is the impact of group-based music training?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/glaxosmithkline/11175843023/in/photolist-i2z7LF-fC3U5G-2EeBTE-GmEmU-acXFFJ-5KERRQ-bDfpDh-7gMVmt-wCWsH-61xvbh-kBe93E-q1C13G-aQm24z-cwrKdu-4n9g3o-9sJbEi-biP2cZ-aCMnqM-aoXwuJ-aXWVUn-ecjEBH-dDpeQ-951xG9-aYU9wn-7PQwwy-aAFnTr-5KABCH-6UuMsy-7dbHf-5KLxtg-8WZWtf-aJ7Ff4-7ULVx5-66tMxn-4r32im-65ZFnN-tLFGZ-dwMu2p-aCMnwR-bGtNoV-2Jhzrg-axjh5K-6be8uf-aHiiKz-ae42Y7-4qXWaz-quj3w2-Qtm9C-6XUAEB-axjrQR">GSK</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The second group of children were about to begin a sports training program with a community-based soccer program. They were not engaged in music training. </p>
<p>A third group of children were from public schools and community centers in the same areas of Los Angeles. All three groups of children were from equally underprivileged and ethnic minority communities of Los Angeles. </p>
<p>Each year, we meet every participant and their families at our institute for a testing period over the course of two to three days. During this visit, we measure language and memory abilities, capacity to process music and speech, and brain development of each child. We also conduct a detailed interview with their families. </p>
<p>At the beginning of the study, when children did not have any music or sports training, we <a href="http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00690/full">found</a> that the children in the music training group were not different from the children in the other two groups. Specifically, there were no differences in the brain’s intellectual, motor, musical and social measures between groups. </p>
<h2>How our brain processes sound</h2>
<p>The “auditory pathway” connects our ear to our brain to process sound. When we hear something, our eardrums receive it in the form of vibrations of air molecules. That is converted into a brain signal through a series of elegant mechanisms in the inner ear. That signal is then sent to the hearing area of the brain referred to as the “auditory cortex,” located near the sides of the brain. </p>
<p>Using different tasks, we measured how children’s brains register and process sound before taking part in their training and each year thereafter with a brain imaging technique called <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/eeg-methods-for-the-psychological-sciences/book238043">electroencephalography (EEG)</a>. This systematic investigation allowed us to track the maturation of the auditory pathway.</p>
<p>In one task, for example, we presented pairs of unfamiliar musical melodies to children while recording the signal from their brain, through EEG. The pairs of melodies were either identical or occasionally had tonal or rhythmic irregularities. We asked the children to identify whether the pairs were similar or different. </p>
<p>We checked how successfully children could detect whether the melody pairs were different and the corresponding brain responses to these occasional differences. That allowed us to measure how well the children’s brains were attuned to melody and rhythm. In general, the brain produces a specific response when detecting an unexpected change in a pattern of sound. </p>
<h2>How music training develops the brain</h2>
<p>After two years, the group of children who had undergone music training <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929315301122">were more accurate</a> at detecting changes in pitch when the melodies were different. All three groups of children were able to identify easily when the melodies were the same. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132975/original/image-20160803-12186-bzp5eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132975/original/image-20160803-12186-bzp5eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132975/original/image-20160803-12186-bzp5eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132975/original/image-20160803-12186-bzp5eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132975/original/image-20160803-12186-bzp5eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132975/original/image-20160803-12186-bzp5eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132975/original/image-20160803-12186-bzp5eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children in the music group show a stronger brain response.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/healthblog/8384110298/in/photolist-dLSKTQ-fsTWuh-8hw2Ue-azLAn1-wTpmBx-pbB4Yd-hTLm8Z-fzT9Xx-56FZo1-bWvH9L-a2tP2d-G9PtQ-bPbME2-Jy6cQ7-eQcPGj-8MornC-iEsZsq-po77jt-nsMCYJ-rpfJye-8xrBQJ-76gWkY-sUk8Y-86WnwH-oW9wQS-dyxFqA-eR8DQ9-aqEVsc-oVyHA6-9pzfoo-oMMHav-hska71-nA4PGC-PcSgw-hdu9b7-bUQ82p-qmgY5N-b7pN9F-c13QH5-6SCgsW-oWayq3-qTjcbJ-oYz2jo-9pxpuj-bF4BBk-gwmAC2-qwL6e-iEi1xD-bF4BAg-pfkiF7">A Health Blog</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That indicated that children undergoing musical training were more attentive to the melodies. Children in the music group also had stronger brain response to differences in pitch compared to the children in the other groups. We also observed that musically trained children had faster development of the brain pathway responsible for encoding and processing sound. </p>
<p>Three years of this study remain. But these interim results are promising. They support previous <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/112/32/10062.abstract">findings</a> on the positive impact of music training on brain development. </p>
<p>Our findings suggest that music training during childhood, even for a period as brief as two years, can accelerate brain development and sound processing. We believe that this may benefit language acquisition in children given that developing language and reading skills engage similar brain areas. This can particularly benefit at-risk children in low socioeconomic status neighborhoods who experience more difficulties with language development. </p>
<p>We hope that the findings from this study will not only lead to a better understanding of the benefits of musical training but also provide further insights into the social and psychological merits of music education for children in underserved communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61491/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Assal Habibi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Several brain regions engage in an amazing symphony to produce music. What then are the benefits of music training on a child?Assal Habibi, Senior Research Associate, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/611942016-07-29T09:32:25Z2016-07-29T09:32:25ZHelp your children play out a story and watch them become more creative<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132360/original/image-20160728-12106-1t6oyv7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children express creativity through 'pretend play.'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=ir69fve71adqay18b55&searchterm=children%20playing&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=257709388">Children image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Just about every institution these days is looking for <a href="http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/getting-down-to-the-business-of-creativity">creative individuals</a>. Adults who can innovate in high-quality ways and <a href="http://www.fpspi.org/pdf/innovcreativity.pdf">contribute</a> to the progress of science, engineering and the arts. </p>
<p>Creative expressions start from an early age. Children express creativity through <a href="http://store.elsevier.com/Encyclopedia-of-Creativity/isbn-9780123750389/">“pretend play”</a> – an activity that involves using imagination and make-believe. They make up stories and ideas “from scratch” and use props like blocks or sticks to represent different ideas and objects – for example, a block becomes a telephone or monster. </p>
<p>The question is, does playing in such a way help children become more creative? And importantly, can parents and educators use play to boost creativity?</p>
<h2>Measuring creative play</h2>
<p>In order to study the link between pretend play and creativity, first we need to be able to measure pretend play.</p>
<p>So, in 1990, my research program developed a measure of pretend play. This program uses a scale, the “Affect in Play Scale,” that measures imagination and “emotional expression” in pretend play stories. </p>
<p>Emotional expression is a term used to convey, for example, when a child pretends that a puppet is having fun while going down a pretend slide. Or when a child pretends that a doll is scared while running from a monster. Children express a wide range of emotions in that way – happiness, fear, sadness, anger, affection or even frustration. </p>
<p>The children we work with are mostly between six and 10 years of age. We videotape them – when they are playing individually with puppets and blocks – for five minutes. We then score their play for imagination, quality of the story and amount of emotion expressed in the narrative. When working with preschool children – between four and five years – we modify the program to provide more toys and more instructions. </p>
<h2>Play and creativity</h2>
<p>Our research shows that the amount and quality of imagination, story-telling skills and emotion expression that children show in pretend play is associated with creative thinking abilities. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132367/original/image-20160728-12084-kiv077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132367/original/image-20160728-12084-kiv077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132367/original/image-20160728-12084-kiv077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132367/original/image-20160728-12084-kiv077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132367/original/image-20160728-12084-kiv077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132367/original/image-20160728-12084-kiv077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132367/original/image-20160728-12084-kiv077.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children with better story-telling abilities are better creative thinkers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=ir69fve71adqay18b55&searchterm=children%20playing&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=245686051">Child image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>Children who demonstrate better story-telling abilities in pretend play also show <a href="http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ858318">better “divergent thinking.”</a> What this means is that when children are asked to think of different uses for many different objects, such as a button or a newspaper, they are able to come up with multiple uses for each. </p>
<p>Our research has shown that <a href="http://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1803_9">children who showed more imagination and emotion in their play</a> are, in general, better <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2011-28759-001">divergent thinkers</a>. Divergent thinking is <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2162-6057.2008.tb01290.x/abstract">associated with higher creative thinking</a> abilities. </p>
<p>Not only that, when children show creativity in pretend play, it is highly likely they are creative in other ways as well. For example, when we went back to the same children four years later, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15326934crj1202_5">we found</a> those children had overall superior creative abilities. </p>
<p>Usually, none of these associations is <a href="http://www.ncgs.org/Pdfs/Resources/Wallace_and_Russ_2015.pdf">linked with intelligence</a>. Existing intelligence tests cannot measure the ability to engage in pretend play.</p>
<h2>Running an intervention</h2>
<p>So, then the next question is, can we increase pretend play skills that, in turn, increase performance on creativity and other important tasks in child development?</p>
<p>A small body of research has found that when adults played with children in a way that could help with the pretend play, even for a brief time, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10400410802391892">it increased children’s imagination</a> <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/aca/10/1/114/">and creativity</a>.</p>
<p>Theoretically, engaging in pretend play involves practice with abilities important in creative production such as making up a story from scratch, generating many and different ideas, recombining ideas into new combinations, expressing and recombining memories with emotional content, and problem-solving in new ways. </p>
<p>Research on children with <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25241008">developmental disabilities</a> has shown how interventions can help increase imagination. For example, in a study with children on the <a href="http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/autism-spectrum-disorders-asd/index.shtml">autism spectrum</a> (problems relating, imagining and expressing emotion) and children with <a href="https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/prader-willi-syndrome">Prader-Willi Syndrome</a> (developmentally delayed with a strong focus on food), the support of an adult play partner increased imagination in play.</p>
<h2>What studies show</h2>
<p>We observed similar results in my research with normally developing children as well. In 2003 and 2004, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/10400410802391892">we carried out a pilot study</a> with first- and second-grade children in a high-poverty neighborhood inner-city school. </p>
<p>Facilitated by an adult, children played with a variety of toys and made up stories with different content themes in five 20-30 minute sessions. They could make up a story about a boy going to the zoo, going to the moon, feeling sad because he lost his dog or feeling happy at a birthday party. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132359/original/image-20160728-12125-114a9iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132359/original/image-20160728-12125-114a9iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132359/original/image-20160728-12125-114a9iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132359/original/image-20160728-12125-114a9iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132359/original/image-20160728-12125-114a9iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132359/original/image-20160728-12125-114a9iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132359/original/image-20160728-12125-114a9iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What changes when adults help children with their story-telling skills?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=ir69fve71adqay18b55&searchterm=children%20playing&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=341832026">Child image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The adult played with the child and showed the child how to pretend. For example, the adult would say that the Lego could be a milk bottle, or that the red block could be a fire engine. The adult would suggest what could happen next in the story.</p>
<p>The adult modeled different expression of feelings, praised the children, encouraged different endings and prompted with questions. </p>
<p>Each child received the same story beginning and had the same interactions with the adult. But the intervention also had enough flexibility so adults could tailor their involvement to the individual child’s level of play skills.</p>
<p>We had a control group as well, where an adult was involved in helping children only with coloring and puzzles. There was no imaginative play in the control group.</p>
<h2>Boost in creativity</h2>
<p>After five weeks of the play and control sessions, the children were assessed again. Children in the play groups increased their play skills and also increased creativity and coping skills when compared to the control group. It was important to make sure that children had fun at the play sessions.</p>
<p><a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/aca/10/1/114/">Two additional studies</a> with this play intervention at a private girls’ school showed similar boost in creativity. </p>
<p>Children five to eight years of age were studied in groups of four. The prompts by adults were similar to the individual play session. The play facilitators were careful to stress turn-taking in developing the stories, so that one child would not dominate the play. </p>
<p>Children were tested before and after the intervention. </p>
<p>Children in the play group made up stories and played with toys. The control group played with crafts and puzzles. After six weeks, children in the play group were found to have better imagination. What is interesting is that <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/aca/10/1/114/">creativity increased</a> on a “divergent thinking” task for children who had lower than average imagination in play when pretested.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132369/original/image-20160728-12087-1u4n2id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/132369/original/image-20160728-12087-1u4n2id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132369/original/image-20160728-12087-1u4n2id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132369/original/image-20160728-12087-1u4n2id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132369/original/image-20160728-12087-1u4n2id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132369/original/image-20160728-12087-1u4n2id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/132369/original/image-20160728-12087-1u4n2id.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Adult intervention can help boost creativity in children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=7Ha5rTbJefkmZAaNIYzS-A&searchterm=children%20creative&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=149774933">Child image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This study is important because it demonstrated that a small group of children (four per group) who met weekly for six weeks, in a school setting, became more imaginative. And even children who were initially low in imagination in play improved on a creativity measure, compared to a control group.</p>
<p>The implication for school settings is that creativity can be enhanced in the classroom with group play that can be easily carried out.</p>
<h2>What parents/teachers can do</h2>
<p>These studies hold promise as they demonstrate that a brief play intervention can help children increase imagination and creativity through play. This intervention is easy to carry out and could be used in school settings by teacher aides or volunteers. </p>
<p>A large-scale study is needed to refine the intervention and gather information about how and which children can best benefit.</p>
<p>In my view, from what we currently know, parents and teachers can help children improve their creativity by playing with the child, enjoying play, demonstrating pretend and starting a story. </p>
<p>So the next time you are set to spend time with young children, come up with the beginning of a story and then let the children do as much as they can. When they get stuck, or get repetitive, engage with them and suggest what can happen next. Most important – have fun.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandra Russ does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Summer can likely be full of activities that you do with your child. Here’s what research shows on how to boost your child’s creativity.Sandra Russ, Distinguished University Professor and Louis D. Beaumont University Professor, Case Western Reserve UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/581992016-07-08T01:43:08Z2016-07-08T01:43:08ZShould parents ask their children to apologize?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129715/original/image-20160707-30693-1qci95z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Apologies can help improve the feelings of someone hurt.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/halfchinese/139499559/in/photolist-djYmP-5qVmST-53nyk4-9oav6k-8fszc9-8W22Sf-8JbMBA-4TQDbK-9A1pK-hztRy-6MHoUL-7cj97j-2ikizn-qS1bg-dS6Xo8-78g5eB-i9Qqw-dpoQY-6ARGrV-8CtkkV-aNtitH-34cyar-6AMyjF-9usPJ6-q1SP-5345fK-Evgt66-dLFXg-bjQTqy-8SrZL4-BMoGj-bJcpg-rTh7wj-aCMDfb-6yVWRb-9v1Dxh-boHvxA-9tLmP-ocRTK6-qVbyLU-8Q2g9U-efu5CX-65QojA-48wym-6aM7rY-4DHAuN-sZdt3w-a1upRU-d6cAKb-4LziQy">Andrew Yee</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Have you ever felt deserving of an apology and been upset when you didn’t get one? Have you ever found it hard to deliver the words, <em>I’m sorry</em>? </p>
<p>Such experiences show how much apologies matter. The importance placed on apologies is shared by many cultures. Diverse cultures even share a great deal in common when it comes to how apologies are communicated.</p>
<p>When adults feel wronged, apologies have been shown to help in a variety of ways:
Apologies can <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1989-17924-001">reduce retaliation</a>; they can bring about <a href="http://www.psy.miami.edu/faculty/mmccullough/Papers/Interpers%20Forgiving_II.pdf">forgiveness</a> and empathy for wrongdoers; and they can aid in the <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2004-10572-008">repair of broken trust</a>. Further, sincere apologies have the physiological effect of <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10865-006-9062-7">lowering blood pressure more quickly</a>, especially among those who are prone to hold on to anger.</p>
<p>How do children view and experience apologies? And what do parents think about when to prompt their young ones to apologize?</p>
<h2>How children understand apologies</h2>
<p>Research shows that children as young as age four <a href="http://sites.lsa.umich.edu/craigsmith/wp-content/uploads/sites/180/2014/10/smith_chen_harris_2010.pdf">grasp the emotional implications</a> of apology. They understand, for example, that an apology can improve the feelings of someone who’s been upset. Preschoolers also judge apologizing wrongdoers to be <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/026151009X479475/abstract">more likable</a>, and <a href="http://www.eva.mpg.de/psycho/staff/carpenter/pdf/Vaish_et_al_2011_childrens_responses_to_guilt_displays.pdf">more desirable as partners for interaction and cooperation</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129718/original/image-20160707-30713-1pmtn8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129718/original/image-20160707-30713-1pmtn8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129718/original/image-20160707-30713-1pmtn8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129718/original/image-20160707-30713-1pmtn8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=709&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129718/original/image-20160707-30713-1pmtn8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129718/original/image-20160707-30713-1pmtn8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129718/original/image-20160707-30713-1pmtn8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=891&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children as young as four understand the emotional meaning of an apology.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/funkyah/310572934/in/photolist-trLvL-8BQW3S-HWMWZY-e7MGgV-jF9d6d-ej83FX-4KXnD5-7AVGYZ-81qmKN-7j3p1L-p5pRjp-7UCGu-5Axiq4-dB6Gyh-dkP8cV-QrLgW-tEsAP-9RJVJ9-3UN759-5T6reM-hs5tWT-3M1Xq-4ry9bg-dzXGsu-4KXnBb-3cmqiR-KyKQv-hAsNxS-6ydwzx-o16EEM-nQM9mU-9aX3Bg-6ghgCx-n1HZSC-eMfnrb-fv4q6H-7Rm1Yp-73vAmP-5Mvu6s-3bLiRf-bVqDQm-6TCWcv-5cPtNV-8UHSZB-Rewsz-swuwxS-5vDSaf-7qeFYE-bBUant-hAtkB3">Funkyah</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recent studies have tested the actual impact of apologies on children. In one such study, a group of four- to seven-year-olds received an apology from a child who failed to share, while another group did not get an apology. The participants who received the apology <a href="http://sites.lsa.umich.edu/craigsmith/wp-content/uploads/sites/180/2014/10/smith_harris_2011.pdf">felt better and viewed</a> the offending child as nicer as well as more remorseful.</p>
<p>Another study exposed children to a more distressing event: A person knocked over a tower that six- to seven-year-olds were building. Some children got an apology, some did not. In this case, a spontaneous apology did not improve children’s upset feelings. However, the apology still had an impact. Children who got an apology were willing to <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sode.12168/abstract">share more</a> of their attractive stickers with the person who knocked over the tower compared to those who did not get an apology.</p>
<p>This finding suggests that an apology led to forgiveness in children, even if sadness about the incident understandably lingered. Notably, children <em>did</em> feel better when the other person offered to help rebuild their toppled towers. In other words, for children, both remorseful words and restorative actions make a difference.</p>
<h2>When does a child’s apology matter to parents?</h2>
<p>Although apologies carry meaning for children, views on whether parents should ask their children to apologize vary. A recent <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sarah-ockwellsmith/we-shouldnt-make-young-children-say-sorry_b_9538472.html/">caution against apology prompting</a> was based on the mistaken notion that young children have limited social understanding. In fact, young children <a href="http://chgd.umich.edu/making-minds-how-theory-of-mind-developes-by-henry-m-wellman/">understand a great deal</a> about others’ viewpoints.</p>
<p>When and why parents prompt their children to apologize has not been systematically studied. In order to gain better insight into this question, I recently <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13229400.2016.1176588">conducted a study</a> with my colleagues <a href="http://www.education.umd.edu/HDQM/Killen-lab/people.php">Jee Young Noh and Michael Rizzo</a> at the University of Maryland and <a href="http://www.paul-lansley-harris.com/">Paul Harris</a> at Harvard University.</p>
<p>We surveyed 483 parents of three- to 10-year-old children. Most participants were mothers, but there was a sizable group of fathers as well. Parents were recruited via online parenting discussion groups and came from communities all around the U.S.. The discussion groups had a variety of orientations toward parenting. </p>
<p>In order to account for the possibility that parents might want to show themselves in the best light, we took a measure of <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781444316568.wiem02057/full">“social desirability bias”</a> from each parent. The results reported here emerged after we statistically corrected for the influence of this bias. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129716/original/image-20160707-30690-12eabxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129716/original/image-20160707-30690-12eabxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129716/original/image-20160707-30690-12eabxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129716/original/image-20160707-30690-12eabxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129716/original/image-20160707-30690-12eabxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129716/original/image-20160707-30690-12eabxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129716/original/image-20160707-30690-12eabxj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A card from daughter to mother.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eklektikos/289352627/">Todd Ehlers</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We asked parents to imagine their children committing what they would consider to be “transgressions.” We then asked them how likely they would be to prompt an apology in each scenario. We also asked parents to rate how important they felt it was for their children to learn to apologize in a variety of situations. Finally, we asked the parents about their general approaches to parenting.</p>
<p>The large majority of parents (96 percent) felt that it was important for their children to learn to apologize following an incident in which children upset another person on purpose. Further, 88 percent felt it was important for their children to learn to apologize in the aftermath of upsetting someone by mistake.</p>
<p>Fewer than five percent of the parents surveyed endorsed the view that apologies are empty words. However, parents were sensitive to context. </p>
<p>Parents reported being especially likely to prompt apologies following their children’s intentional and accidental “moral transgressions.” Moral transgressions involve issues of welfare, justice, and rights, such as stealing from or hurting another person. </p>
<p>Parents viewed apologies as relatively less important following their children’s transgressions of social convention (e.g., breaking a rule in a game, interrupting a conversation).</p>
<h2>Apology as a way to mend rifts</h2>
<p>It’s noteworthy that parents were very likely to anticipate prompting apologies following incidents in which their children upset others on purpose <em>and</em> by mistake.</p>
<p>This suggests that a focus for many parents, when prompting apologies, is addressing the <em>outcomes</em> of their children’s social missteps. Our data suggest that parents use apology prompts to teach their children how to manage difficult social situations, regardless of underlying intentions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129723/original/image-20160707-30710-dc5er8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129723/original/image-20160707-30710-dc5er8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129723/original/image-20160707-30710-dc5er8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129723/original/image-20160707-30710-dc5er8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129723/original/image-20160707-30710-dc5er8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129723/original/image-20160707-30710-dc5er8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129723/original/image-20160707-30710-dc5er8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parents may prompt an apology to mend an interpersonal rift.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=-lScFLusqrxhV4kRmsdcWg&searchterm=sorry%20child&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=286254398">Girl image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, 88 percent of parents indicated that they would typically prompt an apology if their child broke a peer’s toy by mistake (in the event that the child did not apologize spontaneously).</p>
<p>Indeed, parents especially anticipated prompting apologies following accidental mishaps that involved their children’s peers (and not parents themselves as the wronged parties). When a child’s peer is a victim, parents likely recognize that apologies can quickly mend potential interpersonal rifts that may otherwise linger.</p>
<p>We also asked parents why they viewed apology prompts as important for their children. In the case of moral transgressions, parents saw these prompts as tools for helping children take responsibility. In addition, they used apology prompts for promoting empathy, teaching about harm, helping others feel better and clearing up confusing situations. </p>
<p>However, not all parents viewed the importance of apology prompting in the same way. There was a subset of parents who were relatively <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/585170?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">permissive</a>: warm and caring but not overly inclined to provide discipline or expect mature behavior from their children.</p>
<p>Most of these parents were not wholly dismissive of the importance of apologies, but they consistently indicated being less likely to provide prompting to their children, compared to the other parents in the study.</p>
<h2>When to prompt an apology</h2>
<p>Overall, most parents in our study viewed apologies as important in the lives of children. And the child development research described above indicates that many children share this view.</p>
<p>But are there more and less effective ways to prompt a child to apologize? I argue that parents should consider whether a child will offer a prompted apology willingly and sincerely. A recently completed study sheds some light on why.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129724/original/image-20160707-30680-lheyo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129724/original/image-20160707-30680-lheyo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129724/original/image-20160707-30680-lheyo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129724/original/image-20160707-30680-lheyo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129724/original/image-20160707-30680-lheyo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129724/original/image-20160707-30680-lheyo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129724/original/image-20160707-30680-lheyo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When should parents prompt an apology?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/konszvi/1385747452/in/photolist-37sjrs-6RLWve-771RiR-rNgtxq-bXnLqD-qZtP7-47LZyG-5CwBUK-e73s7g-5tKZ33-ahq7MN-REa5p-fUDF3V-ftqE1w-g791Ps-agwNgC-k2fv8-t1QSe-FsxKC6-8TJBua-ggm66V-83mVVT-8xqhEa-8TJBqn-5Z8LKt-afrtAs-4mRaRN-bN71Li-62CcMU-86he4a-HARj2-6j7NFT-e2WBmk-fHux9-9AZtJ9-5wFf1R-oTycGZ-zL1AS-7g7X59-dB9FFf-5irCdM-2NwAvo-oRC9Cu-2aRW9n-c4FFy-3JELrU-4gyZFW-g159iG-6mnb33-bnGefq">Zvi Kons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this study – currently under review – we asked four- to nine-year-old children to evaluate two types of apologies that were prompted by an adult. One apology was willingly given to the victim after the apology prompt; the other apology was given only after additional adult coercion (<em>“You need to say you’re sorry!”</em>). </p>
<p>We found that 90 percent of the children viewed the recipient of the prompted, “willingly given” apology as feeling better. However, only 22 percent of the children connected a coerced apology to improved feelings in the victim.</p>
<p>So, as parents ponder the merits of prompting apologies from children, it seems important to refrain from pushing one’s child to apologize when he or she is not ready, or is simply not remorseful. Most young children don’t view coerced apologies as effective.</p>
<p>In such cases, interventions aimed at calming down, increasing empathy and making amends may be more constructive than pushing a resistant child to deliver an apology. And, of course, components like making amends can accompany willingly given apologies as well.</p>
<p>Finally, to arguments that apologies are merely <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sarah-ockwellsmith/we-shouldnt-make-young-children-say-sorry_b_9538472.html">empty words that young children parrot</a>, it’s worth noting that we have many rituals that involve rather scripted verbal exchanges, such as when two people in love say “I do” at a wedding or commitment ceremony. </p>
<p>Just as these scripted words carry deep cultural and personal meaning, so too can other culturally valued verbal scripts, such the words in an apology. Thoughtfully teaching young children about apologizing is one aspect of teaching them how to be caring and well-regarded members of their communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58199/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Craig Smith's work on the apology prompting study was supported, in part, via Award Number T32HD007109 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development.</span></em></p>Research shows that even four-year-olds feel better after an apology and view people who apologize as nicer than those who don’t.Craig Smith, Research Investigator, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/617322016-07-05T13:22:44Z2016-07-05T13:22:44ZThe imitation game: can newborn babies mimic their parents?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128370/original/image-20160627-28354-rck8q8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Babies learn by example</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-267700160/stock-photo--happy-mother-and-her-child.html?src=iHUzXCx63HY1tdsLumON9A-1-4">www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Imitation is a key part of the way humans learn. We can pick up new skills by observing others: how to tie shoelaces or hold a pencil in school, how to hit a tennis serve or swing a putter down the country club, or how to hunt and fish when left to fend in the wilderness. Throughout human history, the capacity to learn through imitation may have helped our species thrive.</p>
<p>At the same time, imitation appears to act as a form of “social glue”: we tend to like those who imitate us, and unconsciously imitate the people we like. Studies suggest that this can have <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1528/2381">surprising effects</a> on our social interactions. Being imitated can <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130627083037.htm">increase the trust</a> you have in a total stranger, prompt you to give more to charity, and see you <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2003/030704/full/news030630-8.html">leaving a bigger tip</a> at the end of your meal.</p>
<p>Imitating others seems easy. Young children can learn how to play a game by watching their peers. As adults, we can readily copy the gestures locals use in a foreign country. But the ease with which we can copy each other hides the complexities involved in translating the actions we see into actions we can do ourselves. </p>
<p>Consider the challenge posed by imitating someone’s facial expression when we return a smile. To communicate the right message, we need to match a facial expression that is “seen-but-unfelt” (their smile) with a corresponding action that is “felt-but-unseen” (our smile). Getting this translation wrong – for instance, returning a smile with a frown – could have unintended social consequences. Scientists therefore consider imitation to be a sophisticated cognitive achievement, and for many years thought that the capacity to do it was unique to <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1528/2299">humans and other great apes</a>. </p>
<h2>Stick out your tongue</h2>
<p>So where does this ability to imitate come from? In an <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-babies-copy-cat-games-provide-a-social-compass-1445438656">influential series of experiments</a> conducted in the 70s and 80s, renowned developmental psychologists Andrew Meltzoff and M Keith Moore presented newborn infants – many just a few hours old – with adult models protruding their tongues and making different types of facial gestures, and recorded how often the babies reproduced each movement. </p>
<p>Infants appeared to produce more of a particular gesture when it matched the one being performed by the model – as if the infants were copying what they saw. Since newborns have no opportunity to learn about the appearance of their expressions, these findings suggested a remarkable possibility: we may be born with an innate neural circuit that allows us to translate observed actions into the motor commands we need to replicate them. Natural selection may have “hardwired” imitation into our genes. Similar experiments have since been attempted with <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040302">other primate species</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1R_Z6CRMaC8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Reports of neonatal imitation took the scientific community by storm, gaining widespread <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/12/science/newborns-found-able-to-imitate-facial-expressions.html">media coverage</a>. As well as prompting much excitement, however, the results were also the source of huge controversy. For decades, <a href="http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/364/1528/2325">sceptics have argued</a> that studies only prove one thing for certain: that infants tend to stick out their tongues more when an adult model protrudes their tongue. But infants also stick out their tongue when engaged and excited – by music, tactile stimulation and colourful displays – making this behaviour notoriously difficult to interpret.</p>
<h2>Learning to imitate</h2>
<p>A recent study published in <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27161497">Current Biology</a> by psychologist Janine Oostenbroek and colleagues describes the most rigorous, systematic test of newborns’ imitation reported to date. Their results provide decisive evidence against the idea that newborns are born with the ability to imitate.</p>
<p>The researchers exposed 106 infants, each in their first week of life, to a wide range of actions made by adults such as mouth opening, happy and sad expressions, or the extension of an index finger. Across all the actions, the researchers found no evidence that infants produced matching actions more often than non-matching ones. Once again, infants did stick out their tongues when they saw an adult doing so, but they did so at a similar rate when observing an opening mouth or a sad face, highlighting how easy it is to mistake this behaviour for imitation.</p>
<p>Rather than being born with an innate ability to imitate, it therefore appears that human infants actually learn to imitate.</p>
<p>And our parents may start teaching us to imitate long before we encounter mirrors. While newborns may not imitate their caregivers, caregivers often imitate newborns. This behaviour is often so natural and intuitive that adults often fail to realise they’re doing it. These early episodes of correlated “doing” and “seeing”, where infants see someone else perform the same action they’re producing, may help them learn the correspondences needed for imitation.</p>
<p>Later in life, many of our social rituals – dancing together, team sports, sharing meals – may serve to ingrain imitative behaviours further, giving us more correlated experience of performing an action and seeing the same movements performed by others. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129365/original/image-20160705-817-151wuli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129365/original/image-20160705-817-151wuli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129365/original/image-20160705-817-151wuli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129365/original/image-20160705-817-151wuli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129365/original/image-20160705-817-151wuli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129365/original/image-20160705-817-151wuli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129365/original/image-20160705-817-151wuli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=496&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When playing team sports, the actions we perform are closely related to those we observe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fotokostic/www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So it appears that imitation is a product of the way we interact with one another. This raises the possibility that other species may be able to acquire the capacity for imitation given the right kind of social environment. Startling support for this view came from experiments in the early 1990s by Michael Tomasello, <a href="https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-23/edition-4/deferred-imitation-children-and-apes">who observed that chimpanzees</a> raised in the wild are unable to imitate, while those reared by humans often acquire this ability. Controlled experiments confirm that several other species, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10777586">including dogs</a>, can also learn to imitate in environments rich in regular, matching feedback provided by humans. </p>
<p>Learning that an important human trait is not genetically hardwired shouldn’t cause concern. Instead, the new findings of Oostenbroek and colleagues suggest that cultural forces can profoundly shape our psychology. Many of the abilities that define us may not reside in our DNA, but may instead have their roots in the societies around us.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61732/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Yon receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Cook does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research has questioned the nature of humans’ impressive capacity to imitate.Richard Cook, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, City, University of LondonDaniel Yon, PhD candidate in Psychology, Birkbeck, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/574722016-06-27T01:31:28Z2016-06-27T01:31:28ZHow do children learn to detect snakes, spiders and other dangerous things?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128099/original/image-20160624-28362-1wzt9bj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How do kids develop fears?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/59733540@N00/151133370/in/photolist-emAFL-4ej2SY-5TnRw3-cKiDfE-4zQNML-3HcxGw-s4PkgV-cNBf8W-bQdgSV-CqJyt-8b9gRs-5TwvyE-dUD3ty-qwL6e-ecgtJK-nqS1wX-dyBYmi-bZSg5f-9bVz1q-odkuJL-8xAufS-hKzXkJ-58TVG6-727qfi-auyiBx-4kLVEW-kSzwP-68RhWS-4LAh4w-nHjqS9-oas4yh-rokjrW-tEsAP-k9RcPN-nH9Yg9-3UN759-pJWfht-bzqa5p-rCHrXt-8SxTyh-bZS8Yd-exhg4K-3KNXMy-sqFhRh-9bVzRs-aKUcW-4VhoCZ-avkRuq-9hdCaX-5fDZGL">Craig Bradshaw</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Outdoor activities are a fun and exciting part of summertime for children, but they can also be filled with natural (and unnatural) dangers, like fast-moving cars, steep cliffs, crashing waves and even the occasional bear. </p>
<p>Despite these daily hazards, most kids make it to the end of the day unscathed, other than the occasional scraped knee. </p>
<p>Research shows children have an ability to detect threat quickly. How are perceptions of what’s safe and what’s threatening in the outside world shaped from an early age? </p>
<h2>Detecting natural threats</h2>
<p>Because detecting threat would have been advantageous for human survival, <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/rev/108/3/483/">researchers</a> have theorized that humans have a predisposition to detect certain kinds of natural threats very quickly. These threats would consist of things like snakes and spiders, or animals that would have threatened the reproduction of our ancient human ancestors.</p>
<p>Consistent with this theory, <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2001-18060-008">psychologists</a> have found that when presented with photographs of threatening images like snakes and spiders and nonthreatening images like flowers and mushrooms, adults are quicker to identify the threatening than the nonthreatening images.</p>
<p>In my own lab, we study how children and babies – who lack significant experience with snakes and spiders – respond to these creepy-crawlies. </p>
<p>In one study, we presented three-year-olds and adults with a series of nine pictures arranged in a 3-by-3 matrix on a touchscreen. One of the pictures was always the target, and the other eight were distractors. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128100/original/image-20160624-28391-jdoykq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128100/original/image-20160624-28391-jdoykq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128100/original/image-20160624-28391-jdoykq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128100/original/image-20160624-28391-jdoykq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128100/original/image-20160624-28391-jdoykq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128100/original/image-20160624-28391-jdoykq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128100/original/image-20160624-28391-jdoykq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Children detect threatening things such as spiders more quickly.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pinkmoose/78246099/in/photolist-7V2QF-3Bnsvn-6v7ieu-aBEwM4-aotxQH-ay2vzr-3BvmLe-ay2uTV-ay5cZb-ay5dto-ay5doj-ay2uPn-7xKTv-3BndDs-fvMKK-gwea3-6HDDUw-MM3sw-65vsvF-dpmz2C-h9APhr-ay2vfR-ay5dyN-ay5d3Y-ay5dqh-Vk7K6-aDkcHQ-3BnSNw-8cPU5R-3BwXKF-7gQKfR-8xXmvu-3BuSgx-3BmVbQ-fiVvHD-55PPag-ay2uLM-4phGWj-dv1aP-4MG8BZ-qtrqX9-nyvJuM-3YRviq-i2bKmn-oaE396-3BhUkp-3BvcTg-ds7vki-8Qf5Ub-6J1oL5">Anthony Easton</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When the targets were <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/content/19/3/284.short">snakes</a> and <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2010.04.005">spiders</a>, children and adults were much faster at finding them than when the targets were flowers, mushrooms, frogs, caterpillars or even cockroaches. </p>
<p>We found <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20121878">similar results</a> when we tested babies using a simplified version of the task: After presenting 9- to 12-month-olds with two images at once – one snake and one flower – we found that the babies turned their heads more quickly to look at snakes than at flowers.</p>
<p>This finding extends to animals as well. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19450020">Research</a> from a lab in Japan reported that even monkeys detect snakes more quickly than flowers.</p>
<h2>Learning to detect threat</h2>
<p>At first blush, it seems as though my research supports the idea that humans have an evolved predisposition to detect natural threats very quickly.</p>
<p>However, further <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02724980543000204#.V0-D1NdjsQY">research</a> has shown that adults quickly detect a variety of <em>unnatural</em> threats as well, threats like guns, needles and knives. </p>
<p>Since these man-made threats weren’t around when humans were evolving, the evolutionary theory can’t explain why we detect these things so quickly as well. The fact that we do suggests that rapid threat detection of dangerous objects can be learned.</p>
<p>Several lines of research support this idea. My own <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02699930802542308#.V0-EuNdjsQY">work</a> has shown that although preschool-aged children detect needles very quickly (more quickly than pens), they do not detect knives particularly quickly (when compared to spoons). </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128101/original/image-20160624-28362-1p1vyzw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128101/original/image-20160624-28362-1p1vyzw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128101/original/image-20160624-28362-1p1vyzw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128101/original/image-20160624-28362-1p1vyzw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128101/original/image-20160624-28362-1p1vyzw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128101/original/image-20160624-28362-1p1vyzw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128101/original/image-20160624-28362-1p1vyzw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Experience with injections makes children fearful of them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/proimos/7015509987/in/photolist-pNMach-pNKrfa-5xjoMv-bFWjGK-HvZmP-qLqacw-bx7cSV-38M6XA-kfeE3-38Gwpi-Lmg3i-7Y9UsD-7Yd9SG-ntC63y-7JDTp2-8HziQW-oJXSdL-6zJhW9-cnvUKS-p4Mqsi-HvZdk-bbntCM-gxaus-6hc9f2-9T9rNz-6VAPuu-p4Gxzt-psvwSt-p4FrMa-p4GwPv-4WyVY4">PROAlex Proimos</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Importantly, these results seem to be related to negative experience with the objects: While the children had a great deal of experience with inoculations, they were not allowed to handle knives at home and had never been cut by one. Thus, children might have learned to detect needles (but not knives) very quickly via the negative experience of an injection.</p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02699930801993973">research</a> with adults from another lab has shown that after being conditioned to associate the occurrence of an unpleasant electric shock with nonthreatening animals like dogs, birds or fish, the adults learned to detect these animals very quickly – just as quickly as they detected snakes and spiders.</p>
<p>Together, this research suggests that although learning might not be involved in the detection of snakes and spiders, humans can easily <em>learn</em> to detect a variety of threats very quickly as well – that is, after they learn that they are indeed threatening.</p>
<p>One final factor that leads us to detect threatening objects very quickly is emotion – either our emotional state, or our propensity to behave emotionally (as dictated by our personalities).</p>
<p>For example, in another study, I found that adults who <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/emo/14/4/701/">watched</a> a scary movie clip were faster to detect anything – even a very simple shape – faster than adults who watched a neutral clip. </p>
<p>Further, individuals who have a specific phobia <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2001-18060-008">detect</a> the object of that phobia faster than nonphobic adults. Similarly, both adults and children with social anxiety <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&uid=2006-23058-001">detect</a> social signals of threat (like an angry face) more quickly than their nonanxious counterparts.</p>
<h2>Human threat detectors</h2>
<p>This body of research demonstrates that humans can acquire a propensity to detect various kinds of threats through different mechanisms. An ability to detect natural threats like snakes and spiders is developed early. The detection of unnatural threats is learned through negative experience. Finally, we can detect any object (threatening or not) very quickly given a fearful or anxious state of mind. </p>
<p>Together, this flexibility in responding quickly to whatever happens to threaten us makes humans (even very young children) highly effective threat detectors. </p>
<p>This ability is important, as it gives us the freedom to explore potentially new and scary things, while at the same time alerting us when something in the environment might be worth keeping an eye on.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57472/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vanessa LoBue does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When 9- to 12-month-olds with presented with two images at once – one snake and one flower – researchers found that the babies turned their heads more quickly to look at snakes than at flowers.Vanessa LoBue, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Rutgers University - NewarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/585682016-05-13T00:59:08Z2016-05-13T00:59:08ZCould early music training help babies learn language?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122367/original/image-20160512-16410-1i0hrpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Early music activities?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/doegox/1499953615/in/photolist-3hxDXe-nyGVcJ-atmpCC-2XjDJ4-7GFgTS-oi9tP5-6hP3Tc-5E8Uqu-7mADMC-8dtCab-6hP2aV-6hTaAW-HrAD-5rWsrw-GzZa4-kkfmL-9BFhE5-2vtRWH-Ltuau-yC8qD-8dqmse-65zZh-F9TsT-afX8g1-dgjaPU-ouLpkd-9oPFX9-yC8rc-5QbASb-5rWskU-GzVVs-5fwqUe-2vtSSH-2wEdW-REDz-8yFeFG-h2Wonh-f2ZrRF-dJUJmK-2wEdk-2wEf9-5pgzoX-7A4Ch8-nMr6s5-8mAf5q-REDy-e7xPFk-dEtw8b-6H4hdR-6e8quE">PROPhilippe Teuwen</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Growing up in China, I started playing piano when I was nine years old and learning English when I was 12. Later, when I was a college student, it struck me how similar language and music are to each other.</p>
<p>Language and music both require rhythm; otherwise they don’t make any sense. They’re also both built from smaller units – syllables and musical beats. And the process of mastering them is remarkably similar, including <a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2013.08.011">precise movements, repetitive practice and focused attention</a>. I also noticed that my musician peers were particularly good at learning new languages.</p>
<p>All of this made me wonder if music shapes how the brain perceives sounds other than musical notes. And if so, could learning music help us learn languages?</p>
<h2>Music experience and speech</h2>
<p>Music training early in life (before the age of seven) can have a wide range of benefits <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.1238414">beyond musical ability</a>.</p>
<p>For instance, school-age children (six to eight years old) who participated in two years of musical classes four hours each week showed better brain responses to consonants compared with their peers who started one year later. This suggests that music experience <a href="http://www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu/documents/Krausetal_Harmony_JNeuro2014.pdf">helped children hear speech sounds</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122369/original/image-20160512-16407-ix2m8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122369/original/image-20160512-16407-ix2m8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122369/original/image-20160512-16407-ix2m8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122369/original/image-20160512-16407-ix2m8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122369/original/image-20160512-16407-ix2m8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122369/original/image-20160512-16407-ix2m8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122369/original/image-20160512-16407-ix2m8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Music may have a range of benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/breezy421/246072891/in/photolist-nKbU4-fAb4QL-5hKv3Y-o6JXA9-e4zVes-o6L8X6-cQyA8G-pEmuVH-fwp1Q3-dpszxq-qbYXxf-amiPzy-ahy9L3-6ujp5f-bkigxw-78PNHz-ouL6Hw-j4UHbL-e4uiUM-2mJWzQ-bPh5bH-V7Ah-9JPKpf-fi6E97-4iggQE-adgcTK-npqeSK-cegyjN-as4uqw-e4uiSe-7XqpCp-7xunJ7-adj29W-9AVaY6-ixLBFd-61gdpM-5QbKEW-6KzbgM-7wBcJ9-pEmvgc-ooeGYe-9hvRcp-bi9KTB-9AY4m9-9A8WER-4o635v-n8ikw5-bAnqrL-obCmhM-6cKxWd">Breezy Baldwin</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But what about babies who aren’t talking yet? Can music training this early give babies a boost in the steps it takes to learn language? </p>
<p>The first year of life is the best time in the lifespan to learn speech sounds; yet no studies have looked at whether musical experience during infancy can improve speech learning. </p>
<p>I sought to answer this question with <a href="http://ilabs.uw.edu/institute-faculty/bio/i-labs-patricia-k-kuhl-phd">Patricia K. Kuhl</a>, an expert in early childhood learning. We set out to study whether musical experience at nine months of age can help infants learn speech.</p>
<p>Nine months is within the peak period for infants’ <a href="http://ilabs.washington.edu/kuhl/pdf/Kuhl_etal_2006.pdf">speech sound learning</a>. During this time, they’re learning to pay attention to the differences among the different speech sounds that they hear in their environment. Being able to differentiate these sounds is key for <a href="http://ilabs.washington.edu/kuhl/pdf/Kuhl_etal_2008.pdf">learning to speak later</a>. A better ability to tell speech sounds apart at this age is associated with producing more words at 30 months of age. </p>
<h2>Here is how we did our study</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/04/20/1603984113.full">In our study</a>, we randomly put 47 nine-month-old infants in either a musical group or a control group and completed 12 15-minute-long sessions of activities designed for that group.</p>
<p>Babies in the music group sat with their parents, who guided them through the sessions by tapping out beats in time with the music with the goal of helping them learn a difficult musical rhythm. </p>
<p>Here is a short video demonstration of what a music session looked like.</p>
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<p>Infants in the control group played with toy cars, blocks and other objects that required coordinated movements in social play, but without music. </p>
<p>After the sessions, we measured the babies’ brains responses to musical and speech rhythms using <a href="http://ilabs.washington.edu/what-magnetoencephalography-meg">magnetoencephalography (MEG)</a>, a brain imaging technique.</p>
<p>New music and speech sounds were presented in rhythmic sequences, but the rhythms were occasionally disrupted by skipping a beat. </p>
<p>These rhythmic disruptions help us measure how well the babies’ brains were honed to rhythms. The brain gives a specific response pattern when detecting an unexpected change. A bigger response indicates that the baby was following rhythms better. </p>
<p>Babies in the music group had stronger brain responses to both music and speech sounds compared with babies in the control group. This shows that musical experience, as early as nine month of age, improved infants’ ability to process both musical and speech rhythms. </p>
<p>These skills are important building blocks for learning to speak. </p>
<h2>Other benefits from music experience</h2>
<p>Language is just one example of a skill that can be improved through music training. Music can help with social-emotional development, too. An earlier study by researchers <a href="http://ilabs.washington.edu/postdoctoral-fellows/bio/i-labs-tal-chen-rabinowitch-phd">Tal-Chen Rabinowitch</a> and <a href="http://psychology.huji.ac.il/en/?cmd=faculty.113letter&act=read&id=49">Ariel Knafo-Noam</a> showed that pairs of eight-year-olds who didn’t know each other <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0120878">reported feeling more close and connected with one another </a> after a short exercise of tapping out beats in sync with each other. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122373/original/image-20160512-16431-1uznhb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122373/original/image-20160512-16431-1uznhb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122373/original/image-20160512-16431-1uznhb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122373/original/image-20160512-16431-1uznhb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122373/original/image-20160512-16431-1uznhb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122373/original/image-20160512-16431-1uznhb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122373/original/image-20160512-16431-1uznhb4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Music helps children bond better.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=uJYROpBefFjhdSvE2y48Bw&searchterm=children%20%20music&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=121424038">Boy image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
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<p>Another researcher, <a href="http://trainorlab.mcmaster.ca/people/cirelllk">Laura Cirelli</a>, showed that <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12193">14-month-old babies</a> were more likely to show helping behaviors toward an adult after the babies had been bounced in sync with the adult who was also moving rhythmically. </p>
<p>There are many more exciting questions that remain to be answered as researchers continue to study the effects of music experience on early development. </p>
<p>For instance, does the music experience need to be in a social setting? Could babies get the benefits of music from simply listening to music? And, how much experience do babies need over time to sustain this language-boosting benefit? </p>
<p>Music is an essential part of being human. It has existed in human cultures for thousands of years, and it is one of the most fun and powerful ways for people to connect with each other. Through scientific research, I hope we can continue to reveal how music experience influences brain development and language learning of babies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58568/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research described here was supported by the National Science Foundation Science of Learning Center Program grant to the UW LIFE Center (P.K.K., PI: Grant No. SMA-0835854), the Ready Mind Project at the UW Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, and the Washington State Life Science Discovery Fund (LSDF).
</span></em></p>What effect does music have on the developing brains of babies who haven’t even learnt to talk?Christina Zhao, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/579382016-05-05T12:47:05Z2016-05-05T12:47:05ZHow children use their emotions to learn<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121241/original/image-20160504-5832-1fqtviq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kzenon/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3781310/">Emotions</a> play a critical role in everyday life. The ability to express, regulate, and understand one’s own and others’ emotions – known as emotional competence – is linked to good social skills and to doing better at school. </p>
<p>Children and adults who are <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1024426431247">emotionally competent</a> tend to have more successful social lives. And children with a good level of emotional competence <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02202.x/full">tend to be</a> more popular among their peers, have more friends, and display higher levels of pro-social behaviour than children who are not as emotionally adept. Children who are emotionally competent tend to <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/emo/7/1/77/">learn better and to do better in school</a> than their less emotionally adept peers.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02699930500282108">Differences in children’s emotional competence</a> can be observed from a very early age. For example, some toddlers will throw a tantrum when they are not allowed to have an ice cream before lunch, but others who are better at regulating their emotions, will not. </p>
<p>One of the main contexts in which children learn about emotions <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cd.271/abstract">is with their family</a>. It is through interactions with their siblings and parents that a child learns to understand what to do when his mother is upset or how to negotiate his sibling’s anger when he broke his favourite toy. As children grow, the extended family, peers, teachers and what they read or watch <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-do-children-learn-to-form-social-bonds-55192">are also relevant</a> in children’s development of emotional competence. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3781310/">Mothers who mention more emotion words</a> such as “sad”, “guilty” or “happy” in conversation with their children have children with a better level of emotional understanding than those whose mothers don’t do this. Both the frequency <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/30/6/928/">and quality</a> of mothers’ use of emotional words and phrases also has an impact. Mothers who explain the causes and consequences of emotions – “I am angry because you painted on the wall” – have children with a higher level of emotion understanding than children whose mothers who don’t and just say “I am angry”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121243/original/image-20160504-6918-bf7rk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121243/original/image-20160504-6918-bf7rk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121243/original/image-20160504-6918-bf7rk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121243/original/image-20160504-6918-bf7rk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121243/original/image-20160504-6918-bf7rk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121243/original/image-20160504-6918-bf7rk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121243/original/image-20160504-6918-bf7rk8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Standoff.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Maryna Pleshkun/www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<h2>Academic boost</h2>
<p>Starting from a young age, children who are emotionally competent are better able to adapt to the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15566935eed1701_4">transition between nursery and school</a>. They are better able to face the more challenging demands of school life while at the same time having less one-on-one support. These children continue to do better academically throughout the school years as they tend to better manage the stress and anxiety that school life frequently provokes. </p>
<p>There are two main reasons why children who are emotionally competent <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/content/12/1/18.short">tend to do better academically</a> at school. First, emotionally competent children tend to have more friends and are more popular among their peers. </p>
<p>When a child is well-adapted to their school life, he or she is more likely to do better academically. In contrast, children who have problems in relationships with their friends in school, may have their concentration, motivation, and working memory affected. Children who have difficulties dealing with their emotions are also more likely to display <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1995.tb01657.x/full">behavioural problems</a> such as anti-social behaviour or anxiety problems. This makes the child’s learning process more difficult throughout their time at school. </p>
<p>A second reason is that children who are emotionally competent tend to have a better <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2005.00889.x/full">relationship with their teachers</a> than their less emotionally able counterparts. Teachers also tend to demand more of those children with whom they have a good relationship – so in turn, these students tend to put more effort in to please their teachers. </p>
<h2>Watching emotions at work</h2>
<p>It seems clear that emotions play a role in learning. Some researchers even suggest that <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1751-228X.2007.00004.x/abstract">learning simply is an emotional experience</a>. </p>
<p>These questions are starting to be explored outside of traditional lab settings. Several techniques to identify emotional expression have been developed by computer scientists to make predictions about people’s emotions. These include monitoring facial expressions, heart rates, and even the comments students write down.</p>
<p>These techniques are <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/tracking-student-emotions-could-improve-online-retention">currently being researched at the Open University</a> and have the potential to be used to study wider groups of students.</p>
<p>There are obvious <a href="https://theconversation.com/snooping-professor-or-friendly-don-the-ethics-of-university-learning-analytics-23636">ethical questions</a> that arise when talking about using technology to measure emotions. Parents, teachers and school administrators may have concerns about student emotions being tracked using technology. Research that uses these measures will need to show how such analysis benefits student outcomes. </p>
<p>Given how important emotions are to learning, it won’t be too long before we see emotional measures right next to traditional measures such as attendance and grades in efforts to support students to achieve their goals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57938/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Garron Hillaire receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ana Aznar and Bart Carlo Rienties do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Emotional competence can help children do better at school.Ana Aznar, Postdoctoral Research Fellow , University of SurreyBart Carlo Rienties, Reader in Learning Analytics, Institute of Educational Technology, The Open UniversityGarron Hillaire, PhD candidate, Institute of Educational Technology , The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.