Screen Time Isn't Always Bad for Kids Most parents know the importance of reading to their children. Building a collection of baby books is one activity many parents enjoy doing when they first learn they are expecting. My 1-year-old son already has a large collection of books. From classics like Corduroy to bilingual books like La Oruga Muy Hambrienta / The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The significance of reading to kids, especially infants, was underscored recently when the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a new policy statement recommending pediatric providers promote reading to children from infancy until at least kindergarten. Parents are often told to regulate their children’s exposure to screen time when it comes to playing video games or watching television. According to Dr. However, Dr. Here are some additional, traditional reading tips for parents from Reading is Fundamental, many of which can be applied to both printed books and e-readers: Read aloud to your child everyday. Google+
8 Things Everybody Ought to Know About Concentrating “Music helps me concentrate,” Mike said to me glancing briefly over his shoulder. Mike was in his room writing a paper for his U.S. History class. On his desk next to his computer sat crunched Red Bulls, empty Gatorade bottles, some extra pocket change and scattered pieces of paper. In the pocket of his sweat pants rested a blaring iPod with a chord that dangled near the floor, almost touching against his Adidas sandals. On his computer sat even more stray objects than his surrounding environment. Mike made a shift about every thirty seconds between all of the above. Do you know a person like this? The Science Behind Concentration In the above account, Mike’s obviously stuck in a routine that many of us may have found ourselves in, yet in the moment we feel it’s almost an impossible routine to get out of. When we constantly multitask to get things done, we’re not multitasking, we’re rapidly shifting our attention. Phase 1: Blood Rush Alert Phase 2: Find and Execute Phase 3: Disengagement
10 Points Where the Research Behind Banning Handheld Devices for Children Is Flawed | Lisa Nielsen You may have come across Cris Rowan's popular HuffPost piece explaining 10 reasons handheld devices should be banned for children under 12. You may also have read the rebuttal from a librarian mom who explains why she will continue to give her children handheld devices. While the pro-device author explains the benefits of handhelds, what she doesn't uncover is that the research cited by the original author doesn't support her claims. In fact, the research cited in the Rowan piece is so unsupportive of her claims, it seems possible that the real motive behind the article was to test the reader's gullibility. If readers had dug a little deeper, they'd find the truth. The research focuses mainly on passive television consumption and video games that are either simple or for mature audiences. Video games themselves come in many flavors, varieties and levels of complexity, a fact the article ignores. Tech savvy parents and educators know that all these things are good for young people.
AAPNEWS : AAP News Copyright © 2015 by the American Academy of Pediatrics Authors When families seek our professional advice on managing technology in their children’s lives, we turn to research-based AAP guidelines that promote positive media use and discourage potentially harmful use. The most well-known of these guidelines discourage “screen time” for children under age 2 and limit “screen time” to two hours a day for children over age 2 (Abstract/FREE Full Text; Abstract/FREE Full Text). As we know, however, scientific research and policy statements lag behind the pace of digital innovation. Case in point: The 2011 AAP policy statement Media Use by Children Younger Than Two Years was drafted prior to the first generation iPad and explosion of apps aimed at young children. Today, more than 30% of U.S. children first play with a mobile device when they still are in diapers, according to Common Sense Media. The following key messages for parents emerged: Media is just another environment. Dr.
Pentagon researching ‘narrative networks’ as way to hijack the brain with false stories J. D. HeyesNaturalNews If someone – or some government entity – were able to figure out the science behind what makes people violent, what do you suppose they would do with that knowledge? According to a recent report by the BBC, the Defense Department appears to be looking for a way to hijack the mind so it can implant false, but believable, stories – a sort of “like me” weapon, if you will. The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA – the division responsible for all of the Defense Department’s cutting-edge technology development – is said to be working on brand-new research that focuses on the neurobiology behind the political violence and, specifically, whether such violence can be mitigated before it even begins. DARPA officials say the research is aimed at looking for ways to generate versions of events that would convince people not to support the enemy. Not science fiction – just science Brainwash us? “Why are we grabbed by some stories and not others?
Making digital butterflies from old phones Is This Good? is a collective of digital creative artists, who devote their time to building weird and wonderful electronic contraptions. They have an abundance of technical and coding skills between them and work with circuit boards, Raspberry Pi computers, capacitors and soldering kits. But they also like to use the digital litter that people leave behind, like smart phones, Bluetooth sets and SIM cards. They first made birds from mobile phone scrap on a whim, which were later exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Their flock of digital birds is currently being expanded, ready for this summer's Digital Revolution exhibition at The Barbican in London. Creative Director Chris Cairns introduced BBC News to their digital animals. Video Journalist: Dougal Shaw Real Time is a series for the BBC News website in which ordinary people tell their own extraordinary stories.
How Your Brain Works" Every animal you can think of -- mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians -- has a brain. But the human brain is unique. Although it's not the largest, it gives us the power to speak, imagine and problem solve. It is truly an amazing organ. The brain performs an incredible number of tasks including the following: It controls body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and breathing.It accepts a flood of information about the world around you from your various senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching).It handles your physical movement when walking, talking, standing or sitting.It lets you think, dream, reason and experience emotions. All of these tasks are coordinated, controlled and regulated by an organ that is about the size of a small head of cauliflower. Your brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves make up a complex, integrated information-processing and control system known as your central nervous system.
How Long to Nap for the Best Brain Benefits Home » Health » How Long to Nap for the Best Brain Benefits Taking a nap, we’ve seen time and again, is like rebooting your brain. But napping may be as much of an art as it is a science. Scientists offer recommendations for planning your perfect nap, including how long to nap and when. The sleep experts in the article say a 10-to-20-minute power nap gives you the best “bang for your buck,” but depending on what you want the nap to do for you, other durations might be ideal: For a quick boost of alertness, experts say a 10-to-20-minute power nap is adequate for getting back to work in a pinch. For cognitive memory processing, however, a 60-minute nap may do more good, Dr. Finally, the 90-minute nap will likely involve a full cycle of sleep, which aids creativity and emotional and procedural memory, such as learning how to ride a bike. In addition to those recommendations, one surprising suggestion is to sit slightly upright during your nap, because it will help you avoid a deep sleep.
Listen: The story of Izzy Dix in five podcasts - BBC Newsbeat Time-Lapse Movies of Brain Development: Supplementary Data Supplementary Data (Video Sequences) This page contains supplementary data for the manuscript entitled: Dynamic Mapping of Human Cortical Development during Childhood through Early Adulthood (Authors: Nitin Gogtay MD, Jay N. Giedd MD, Leslie Lusk BA, Kiralee M. Hayashi BS, Deanna Greenstein PhD, A. Press Release Time-Lapse Imaging Tracks Brain Maturation Ages 5 to 20. Figure 1 High-Resolution Image Right Oblique Movie Top Movie Bottom Movie Left Movie Animated GIFs: Related Projects
Att leva med ADHD Hej. Jag heter Annaklara. Det här är historien om mig. Våren 1981 föddes jag i utkanten av Stockholm. När jag var liten var jag en snäll och duktig flicka. Stopp ett tag! Vi har alla en hjärna. För att nervcellerna i hjärnan ska kunna prata med varandra använder de små budbärare som kallas signalsubstanser. Vad är ADHD och DCD undrar ni kanske nu? Det finns många epitet på oss bokstavsbarn. För att du som läser det här skall förstå lite bättre hur det kan vara att leva med min funktionsskillnad tänkte jag nu berätta lite om hur det har varit för mig att växa upp och hur det är för mig att leva idag. Vi börjar med DCD. Jag ville inte vara till besvär för mina kamrater så jag vågade aldrig fråga någon om jag fick vara med. De vanligaste aktiviteterna för flickorna på skolgården var att hoppa hopprep, spela twist, nigger eller kråkan, hoppa hage, göra klapplekar eller skvallra med sin ”bästis”. Att ha rast i skolan blev till en pina. Om man är i rörelse så ser man upptagen ut tänkte jag.
mputers 'do not improve' pupil results, says OECD - BBC News Investing heavily in school computers and classroom technology does not improve pupils' performance, says a global study from the OECD. The think tank says frequent use of computers in schools is more likely to be associated with lower results. The OECD's education director Andreas Schleicher says school technology had raised "too many false hopes". Tom Bennett, the government's expert on pupil behaviour, said teachers had been "dazzled" by school computers. The report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development examines the impact of school technology on international test results, such as the Pisa tests taken in more than 70 countries and tests measuring digital skills. It says education systems which have invested heavily in information and communications technology have seen "no noticeable improvement" in Pisa test results for reading, mathematics or science. Unplugged But Mr Schleicher says the "impact on student performance is mixed at best". The report says:
Kids And Screen Time: What Does The Research Say? : NPR Ed Kids are spending more time than ever in front of screens, and it may be inhibiting their ability to recognize emotions, according to new research out of the University of California, Los Angeles. The study, published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, found that sixth-graders who went five days without exposure to technology were significantly better at reading human emotions than kids who had regular access to phones, televisions and computers. The UCLA researchers studied two groups of sixth-graders from a Southern California public school. One group was sent to the Pali Institute, an outdoor education camp in Running Springs, Calif., where the kids had no access to electronic devices. For the other group, it was life as usual. At the beginning and end of the five-day study period, both groups of kids were shown images of nearly 50 faces and asked to identify the feelings being modeled. A Wake-Up Call For Educators There's a big takeaway for schools, Greenfield says.
Me, My Selfie and I See also: 7 Tips For Great Selfies It's official: 2013 is the year that the selfie came into its own. The self-taken mobile photo now boasts its own art exhibition as well as a new linguistic status—Oxford Dictionaries just added the word in August, making it a legitimate part of the English language. (Update: Oxford has made named it the word of the year for 2013.) Selfies, of course, aren't really anything new. Keep Feeling Fascination ... World's first photo selfie: Robert Cornelius in Philadelphia, 1839 We’ve come a long way since Robert Cornelius took the world's first photographic self-portrait. Yet he might have had he given it some thought. Those early self-portraits were themselves spurred in equal part by new technology—especially inexpensive, high-quality mirrors—and human self-curiosity, though of course you had to be an artist to actually create one. And what was the automated photo booth, anyway, but an ahead-of-its-time selfie machine? The Selfie-Centered Generation