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Lavishing Kids With Praise Can Make Them Feel Worse About Themselves
The Atlantic: "Hollywood dishes out too much praise for small things," the great actor Jimmy Stewart once said. "I won't let it get me, but too much praise can turn a fellow's head if he doesn't watch his step." He was talking about the sick power compliments can have on a person's ego: You hear enough times that you're awesome and you start to believe that you're the awesomest. And then you become insufferable. A new set of studies shows that for kids, high praise can have the opposite effect on self-esteem: It can actually make some children feel worse about themselves.
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Long gaps during revision ‘better than cramming’
BBC: There is bad news for anyone relying on last-minute exam cramming, as psychologists publish research showing that learning is much more effective when spaced out over stretches of time. The study from Sheffield University examined how more than 850,000 people improved skills playing an online game. It showed leaving a day between practice sessions was a much better way of gaining skills than continuous play. Researcher Tom Stafford says this reflects how memories are stored. Prof Stafford, a psychologist from the University of Sheffield, was able to analyse how people around the world improved when playing the Axon computer game. Read the whole story: BBC
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The art of praising children – and knowing when not to
The Guardian: Some parents are blessed with a soul that lights up every time their little precious brings them a carefully crafted portrait or home-made greetings card. I am not one of those parents. It is not that I don't love my kids, or that I don't appreciate the gesture. I rather like it when they come rushing up to me with a big grin squealing "Daddy, I made you a present!" But then I look down at the splodge of crayon and glue in my hand and suddenly I'm possessed by the sour spirit of Brian Sewell. Is this meant to be me? It is … how can I put this … it is rubbish. Really son, my legs do not grow straight out of the side of my oversized head.
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Brainlike Computers, Learning From Experience
The New York Times: Computers have entered the age when they are able to learn from their own mistakes, a development that is about to turn the digital world on its head. I.B.M. and Qualcomm, as well as the Stanford research team, have already designed neuromorphic processors, and Qualcomm has said that it is coming out in 2014 with a commercial version, which is expected to be used largely for further development. Moreover, many universities are now focused on this new style of computing. This fall the National Science Foundation financed the Center for Brains, Minds and Machines, a new research center based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with Harvard and Cornell.
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Nothing Focuses The Mind Like The Ultimate Deadline: Death
NPR: Ticktock. Ticktock. Ticktock. The seconds left in 2013 are slipping away. And you know what else is slipping away? The seconds left in your life. Luckily for you, there's a new product called Tikker , a wristwatch that counts down your life, so you can watch on a large, dot-matrix display as the seconds you have left on Earth disappear down a black hole. Your estimated time of death is, of course, just that — an estimate. Tikker uses an algorithm like the one used by the federal government to figure a person's life expectancy. But the effect is chilling, a sort of incessant grim reaper reminding you that time is running out. Read the whole story: NPR
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Another use for literature
Los Angeles Times: I'm no stranger to "A Midsummer Night's Dream." I've read the play, seen movie versions, attended live performances — including one in which the cast included my then 7- and 5-year-old kids (now that was theater; I only wish you all could have been there). Nevertheless, each time I revisit the play, I find myself on the edge of complete confusion trying to keep track of Hermia, Helena, Lysander and Demetrius. Wait a sec, I ask myself: Who is in love with whom? Why are they all chasing Helena? Who is Lysander really in love with? Who does he think he's in love with? What did Puck know and when did he know it?
