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Is Homework Good for You?

Is Homework Good for You?. Even if you enjoy the challenge of learning new things, have you ever thought about what might be going on in your brain when you read, work on math problems, or study other subjects?.

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Is Homework Good for You?

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  1. Is Homework Good for You? Even if you enjoy the challenge of learning new things, have you ever thought about what might be going on in your brain when you read, work on math problems, or study other subjects?

  2. Recent studies in neuroscience provide some insight into what might be going on in your brain as you learn new information Orange dots represent multiple synapses on a single neuron

  3. Learning is how we acquire new information. Memory is the process that results in storage of learned information. Learning and memory are fundamentally related: . new information new information new information short-term memory usually lost short term memory rapid retrieval usually lost short term memory rapid retrieval usually lost practice rapid retrieval Practice forgetting remembering Practice forgetting remembering forgetting remembering slower retrieval slower retrieval slower retrieval long-term memory long term memory After R. Lynch, 2004. <http://www.colorado.edu/epob/epob3730rlynch/image/figure17-4.jpg>

  4. short-term memory: lasts for less than 30 seconds, ex. dialing a phone number you just looked up in the phone book. new information short-term memory usually lost rapid retrieval practice forgetting remembering slower retrieval long-term memory

  5. Read the following sequence silently, pausing at each dash:MT-VVC-RC-IAU-SAB-MWLook away from the computer and write down any letters from this sequence that you can remember.

  6. Now, read the following sequence silently, again pausing at each dash:MTV-VCR-CIA-USA-BMWLook away from the computer and write down any letters from this sequence that you can remember.

  7. Take another look at the two sequences: MT-VVC-RC-IAU-SAB-MW MTV-VCR-CIA-USA-BMW Notice anything? The letters are the same in each sequence. Yet, you most likely found it a lot easier to remember the second sequence. Why?

  8. Most people can hold about 7 meaningful pieces of information in their short-term memory. Meaningful pieces of information could be numbers, words, faces, objects, or any other “chunks” of information. While short-term memory is important, it is long-term memory that really matters when it comes to learning. How does short-term memory become long-term memory?

  9. Practice (also called rehearsal) of information is required to convert short-term memory into long-term memory. Without practice, short-term memory is forgotten. new information short-term memory usually lost rapid retrieval practice forgetting remembering slower retrieval long-term memory

  10. Practice? That sounds an awful lot like studying.What kind of practice? How much practice is necessary to develop long-term memory? It depends on what you want to learn... Something changes! Input Source: V. Murthy. 2005. Harvard University

  11. Ex. London taxi drivers: • Have to “memorize” the roads • based on earlier studies, including the results you have already analyzed, researchers expected that they would see changes in the size of the hippocampus. cerebral cortex parietal lobe corpus collosum frontal lobe occipital lobe thalamus cerebellum hypothalamus hippocampus temporal lobe Source: http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh27-2/125-133.htm

  12. Results Examine the graph below. VBM is a measure of density in the brain. Higher values of VBM mean the brain contains more nerve tissue in a particular region. What changes appear to be related to the amount of time each man has been a licensed taxi driver? Sources: Maguire et al., 2000, http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/97/8/4398; http://www.londontaxitour.com/

  13. What can we learn from London taxi drivers? Besides helping us find our way around London, these taxi drivers teach us some important things about the human brain. The researchers concluded that the connections between neurons in the hippocampus had been rearranged so that drivers could store a “mental map” of London in the posterior hippocampus. cerebral cortex parietal lobe corpus collosum frontal lobe occipital lobe thalamus cerebellum hypothalamus hippocampus temporal lobe

  14. Results of taxi driver studies show that the adult brain can change due to mental activity The results you have analyzed suggest that the brain grows in response to experience. In this case, taxi drivers showed structural changes in the part of their brain where they stored their “mental map” of London. Other regions of the brain remained unchanged. Other studies show that different regions of the brain are active during different activities. How might these activities affect growth in the brain? How does the brain respond? Input ? brain growth time and experience

  15. Is homework good for you? When you do homework, you are giving your brain a workout. This workout gives your brain the opportunity to practice, or convert short-term memory into long-term memory. Does this practice change your brain? new information short term memory usually lost rapid retrieval Practice forgetting remembering slower retrieval long term memory What do you think?

  16. The Nervous System • CNS: central nervous system • brain: made of lobes • spinal cord • PNS: peripheral nervous system • sensory pathways • motor pathways

  17. CNS • processing centre: receives messages from nerves • processes information and responds by sending data to muscles and glands via PNS

  18. Mammal Brains

  19. Divisions of the Brain Master Watermark Image: http://williamcalvin.com/BrainForAllSeasons/img/bonoboLH-humanLH-viaTWD.gif

  20. Cerebrum • Makes up the left and right hemispheres of a vertebrate forebrain. • Responsible for integrating memory, learning, emotions and other complex functions of the brain. • largest division of the brain

  21. Cerebrum Cerebrum Cerebellum Cerebrum http://williamcalvin.com/BrainForAllSeasons/img/bonoboLH-humanLH-viaTWD.gif

  22. Cerebral Cortex CerebralCortex Cerebral Cortex - The outermost layer of gray matter making up the superficial aspect of the cerebrum. http://www.bioon.com/book/biology/whole/image/1/1-6.tif.jpg

  23. Lobes of the Brain (4) • Frontal • Parietal • Occipital • Temporal http://www.bioon.com/book/biology/whole/image/1/1-8.tif.jpg * Note: Occasionally, the Insula is considered the fifth lobe. It is located deep to the Temporal Lobe.

  24. Lobes of the Brain - Frontal • The Frontal Lobe of the brain is located deep to the Frontal Bone of the skull. • It plays an integral role in the following functions/actions: • - Memory Formation • - Emotions • - Decision Making/Reasoning • - Personality (Investigation: Phineas Gage) Investigation (Phineas Gage) Modified from: http://www.bioon.com/book/biology/whole/image/1/1-8.tif.jpg

  25. Lobes of the Brain - Parietal Lobe • The Parietal Lobe of the brain is located deep to the Parietal Bone of the skull. • It plays a major role in the following functions/actions: - Senses and integrates sensation(s) • Spatial awareness and perception • (Proprioception - Awareness of body/ body parts in space and in relation to each other) Modified from: http://www.bioon.com/book/biology/whole/image/1/1-8.tif.jpg

  26. Lobes of the Brain – Occipital Lobe • The Occipital Lobe of the Brain is located deep to the Occipital Bone of the Skull. • Its primary function is the processing, integration, interpretation, etc. of VISION and visual stimuli. Modified from: http://www.bioon.com/book/biology/whole/image/1/1-8.tif.jpg

  27. Lobes of the Brain – Temporal Lobe • The Temporal Lobes are located on the sides of the brain, deep to the Temporal Bones of the skull. • They play an integral role in the following functions: • Hearing • Organization/Comprehensionof language • Information Retrieval (Memory and Memory Formation) Modified from: http://www.bioon.com/book/biology/whole/image/1/1-8.tif.jpg

  28. autonomic system –regulating breathing and vomiting, etc. activates the brain maintaining arousal or reduces arousal for sleep mood control and alerting response Cerebellum – coordination of voluntary movements, eye saccades, and simple learning Hindbrain

  29. Hypothalamus Controls eating, drinking, sexual, etc. behaviors Hippocampus Formation of new memories Septum Emotion and emotional memories Amygdala Aggression, fear, social interactions, raw emotions Sexual orientation? Anxiety? Limbic System: Your Lizard Brain

  30. CNS in (unconscious) action: reflex arc • Simple connection of neurons that results in a reflex action in response to a stimulus • Very rapid • Depend on only 3 neurons • Not under voluntary control, happens before your brain “processed” what happened • Usually response to hot/sharp objects

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