What are “Mental Models”? | Making Connections Editor’s note: This is part one of a two part series on Systems Thinking and mental models In writing and teaching people about Systems Thinking, we often refer to “mental models”. For some people, this comes as a bit of a surprise, because the context usually involves building models with the iThink or STELLA software. They don’t expect us to start talking metaphysically about thinking. “Is this about philosophy or modeling software?” they may wonder. Let’s define the term model: A model is an abstraction or simplification of a system. So, what is a “mental model”? Imagine that you are standing outside, looking at a tree. So at this point, we’ve only addressed the mechanisms by which you perceive the tree. What makes the image of a tree in your minds click as an actual tree that exists right there in front of you? A tree is a plant. Take a look at these images for a few moments and then think about what is happening inside your mind as you look at them. Thinking About Systems
22 Ways to Overclock Your Brain “I just found out that the brain is like a computer. If that’s true, then there really aren’t any stupid people. Just people running DOS.” - Anonymous The brain is a three-pound supercomputer. Your brain is more complicated than any computer we can imagine. It’s simple, your brain is at the center of everything you do, all you feel and think, and every nuance of how you relate to people. No matter what your age, mental exercise has a global, positive effect on the brain. 1. Research suggests that people who get plenty of physical exercise can wind up with better brains. 2. It isn’t just physical exercise that gets those brain cells jumping. 3. Our brains are wired to be curious. 4. Scientists tell us that laughter is good for our health; that it releases endorphins and other positively powerful chemicals into our system. 5. Omega-3 oils, found in walnuts, flaxseed and especially fish, have long been touted as being healthy for the heart. 6. 7. Can “bad” fats make you dumb? 8. 9. 10. 11.
How to Learn a Little Every Day Something can be said for knowing a little bit about a lot of things. Being an everyman or everywoman can propel you to a more efficient, productive and fulfilled personal and professional life. Whether it’s keeping up on current events, a new hobby or interest or simply any new idea, taking a small amount of time to learn something every day is a great way to add to your personal knowledgebase. Incorporating bits of learning into your every day experience puts you on a path to lifelong learning. Lifelong learning keeps you engaged in your environment, builds your knowledgebase, ensures that you use your mind, provides a sense of accomplishment and simply makes you feel good. The knowledge you gain, tools you get and experiences you have with learning a little bit everyday all work together to achieve real personal advancement. If you can’t start your day with a little time for learning something new, try doing it at lunch time or at the end of the day.
Accelerate Learning | Scientific Learning Global Use Counterfactual Thinking for a Creativity Boost Google Keep – Organize & Save Your Thoughts While we lament the impending loss of Google Reader, Google shares some good news recently with the newly launched Google Keep. Its tagline, "Save what’s on your mind" describes its function as a note-taking service. It’s currently a stand-alone service and in the early stages of development but will work with Google Drive in the near future. It has still pretty basic features, and we will show you what you can currently do on Keep to help organize your thoughts. Recommended Reading: Everything You Need To Know About Google Glass Keeping Your Thoughts Organized Google Keep is akin to Evernote but with a simpler approach. Prefer a to-do list style instead? However there are a few things to note about Google Keep. Access Google Keep everywhere You can access Google Keep on a desktop or mobile web browser through drive.google.com/keep. iOS users as you can access Keep through a web browser like the Chrome app. ‘Keep’ On Android One more handy feature is its speech-to-text recording feature.
Talent in autism: hyper-systemizing, hyper-attention to detail and sensory hypersensitivity Abstract We argue that hyper-systemizing predisposes individuals to show talent, and review evidence that hyper-systemizing is part of the cognitive style of people with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). We then clarify the hyper-systemizing theory, contrasting it to the weak central coherence (WCC) and executive dysfunction (ED) theories. The ED theory has difficulty explaining the existence of talent in ASC. While both hyper-systemizing and WCC theories postulate excellent attention to detail, by itself excellent attention to detail will not produce talent. By contrast, the hyper-systemizing theory argues that the excellent attention to detail is directed towards detecting ‘if p, then q’ rules (or [input–operation–output] reasoning). Keywords: 1. Savantism is found more commonly in autism spectrum conditions (ASC) than in any other neurological group (see Howlin 2009), and the majority of those with savantism have an ASC (Hermelin 2002). 2. 3. 4. Box 1. 5. 6. 7.
120 Ways to Boost Your Brain Power Here are 120 things you can do starting today to help you think faster, improve memory, comprehend information better and unleash your brain’s full potential. Solve puzzles and brainteasers.Cultivate ambidexterity. Use your non-dominant hand to brush your teeth, comb your hair or use the mouse. Readers’ Contributions Dance! Contribute your own tip! There are many, many ways to keep our brains sharp. 40 websites that will make you cleverer right now The indexed web contains an incredible 14 billion pages. But only a tiny fraction help you improve your brain power. Here are 40 of the best. whizzpast.com – Learn about our awe inspiring past all in one wonderful place. khanacademy.org – Watch thousands of micro-lectures on topics ranging from history and medicine to chemistry and computer science. freerice.com – Help end world hunger by correctly answering multiple-choice quizzes on a wide variety of subjects. artofmanliness.com – Blog/site dedicated to all things manly, great for learning life skills and good insights. unplugthetv.com – Randomly selects an educational video for you to watch. coursera.org – An educational site that works with universities to get their courses on the Internet, free for you to use. mentalfloss.com – Interesting articles guaranteed to make you smile and get you thinking. feelgoodwardrobe.com – Find out how the world of fashion really works and what you can do to combat it. lifehacker.com – Learn to hack life!
How the Brain Learns—A Super Simple Explanation for eLearning Professionals How the Brain Learns—A Super Simple Explanation for eLearning Professionals In his book, The Art of Changing the Brain, Dr. James Zull , notably suggested how David Kolb's famous four-phase model of the learning cycle can be mapped into four major brain processes. He believed that better understanding the learning processes that occurs in the brain encourages a more flexible approach to learning. To grasp Zull's suggestion, you have to know first the four stages of Kolb's learning cycle. Concrete Experience: This is when learners encounter a new learning experience Reflective Observation: Learners reflect on the experience Abstract Conceptualization: Think/Study (learn from the experience)Active Experimentation: Applying and trying out what was learned Note that this is a recurrent four-stage process which, according to Dr. Process One: Get Information Process Two: Make Meaning First off, reflection needs time and space to happen. Process Three: Form Abstractions = Create References:
Programming Your Brain: The Art of Learning in Three Steps | BitNative From time to time, I run into people who are interested in breaking into programming. Last night at the company holiday party a guy (we’ll call him Sam) walked up and introduced himself, asking for advice on how to move from his current role over to development. Sam’s attitude impressed me – those with a genuine desire to learn go places quickly. And on many occasions I’ve hired someone very green simply because I could sense a genuine interest in the craft and a hunger for knowledge. I’ll take attitude over aptitude. Obviously, the road to becoming a better developer begins with learning. Watch someone Thus, I personally watch videos or read books and blogs. Now, be forewarned that according to National Training Laboratories, the percentages on this diagram have no known source behind them, so take my references to the absolute percentages with a grain of salt. Watch someoneTry it yourself and experiment But that’s not the end of the road. Presto. Does this ring true for you?
Brain Games & Brain Training - Lumosity IQ Test (Intelligence Test). More than 50 Intelligence Tests for all ages Have you ever asked yourself, what it intelligence? Intelligence can be described as the ability to have skills, necessary to face the requirements and challenges, which man is daily confronted with. According to the Webster’s Dictionary, “intelligence is a capacity to perceive and comprehend meaning, information, news”. Nowadays a new, more complex and extensive conception of intelligence has been developed, and the determination can be simply expressed as: Intelligence is a skill to solve complex problems in the changing circumstances. One cannot say, that IQ = Intelligence, because not all the aspects of the intelligence can be reliably measured. Intelligence can have different forms, co-existing with each other, and not all of them are easily measurable. Do you like to have the newest quizzes and tests from this category on your website? Site 1 - 10 of 101 matches sorted by date or sort by rating