The Secret to Success
New research says social-emotional learning helps students in every way.
-- by Daniel Goleman
Schools are beginning to offer an increasing number of courses in social and emotional intelligence, teaching students how to better understand their own emotions and the emotions of others.
It sounds warm and fuzzy, but it's a trend backed up by hard data. Today, new studies reveal that teaching kids to be emotionally and socially competent boosts their academic achievement. More precisely, when schools offer students programs in social and emotional learning, their achievement scores gain around 11 percentage points.
That's what I heard at a forum held last December by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). (Disclosure: I'm a co-founder of CASEL.) Roger Weissberg, the organization's director, gave a preview of a massive study run by researchers at Loyola University and the University of Illinois, which analyzed evaluations of more than 233,000 students across the country.
Social-emotional learning, they discovered, helps students Continue Reading »
We are hosting here at SharpBrains the next editions of several great blog carnivals. If you blog about these topics, please submit your best recent posts using our Contact Us form:
- August 27th: Carnival of Education.
- September 9th: Carnival of Biogerontology.
- September 17th: Carnival of HR.
Enjoy the weekend!
Education, Aging...two seemingly unrelated topics, but with more biology in common than may meet the eye...
You may enjoy the most recent editions of two great blog carnivals:
- Carnival of Education, hosted by Joanne Jacobs.
- Hourglass: a carnival of biogerontology, hosted by Chris at Ouroboros. Chris recently launched this blog carnival to provide a home for "bloggers who are writing about biogerontology, lifespan extension technologies, and aging in general."
Anne writes my favorite post at Existence is Wonderful, linking education/ learning/ nurture with aging.
She first explains that
"Many people use the word "aging" as a shorthand not just for the mere process of getting older (which is not only inevitable for everything in existence, but something to celebrate --- "getting older", after all, means "experiencing more life"!), but for the physical degeneration that occurs as metabolic, immune, and mechanical side effects take hold as a person ages. Personally I find this dual use of the word "aging" terribly confusing".
And then adds
"We don’t necessarily know what hard limits are on longevity until we optimize care. I saw a dramatic turnaround in my fish when I learned how to properly configure the tank setup, and I hope to see the day when human medicine makes a similar leap in effectiveness"
From the website of the investing venture capital firm, Milk Capital:
Milk Capital invests USD 5 million in CogniFit
-July 31st, 2008. "Milk Capital invest USD 5M in Cognifit, a company specialized in cognitive and brain software The solutions developed by CogniFit are designed to be applied to a large number of fields, such as healthcare, driving, education, sport and many others. The field of applications is almost unlimited as it is only restricted by the capacities of the brain."
-"Since its establishment in 1999, as a start-up in the Ofer Group's Incubator, Naiot, CogniFit attracted 4.2M$. The company has grown significantly and today, its software is distributed in a large number of countries, from the United States through France to New Zealand, and has been translated into ten languages. This 5M$ investment of MILK CAPITAL should drive the development of CogniFit all the more than the company intends to conquer new markets by means of new products and applications all over the world."
Previous post on one of CogniFit's products, DriveFit: DriveFit; Brain Fitness Program for Driving.
Other recent venture rounds in the brain fitness software space:
- February 2008: Dakim raises $10,6 million
- June 2008: Lumos Labs (Lumosity) raises $3 millions
I spoke at the MIT Club of Northern California in February to provide an overview of the fascinating landscape. The write-up: Brain Training Games: Context, Trends, Questions.
For in-depth information on the whole category -size, customer segments, player landscape, clinical validation, trends- you may enjoy our Market Report.
My brain is honoured to have been invited to participate-together with the rest of my body of course- in a new initiative by the World Economic Forum. Of course I have accepted, given that the Global Agenda Councils have this fascinating charter:
- "Global Agenda Councils will challenge prevailing assumptions, monitor trends, map interrelationships and address knowledge gaps. Equally important, Global Agenda Councils will also propose solutions, devise strategies and evaluate the effectiveness of actions using measurable benchmarks."
- "In a global environment marked by short-term orientation and silo-thinking, Global Agenda Councils will foster interdisciplinary and long-range thinking to address the prevailing challenges on the global agenda."
The Continue Reading »
July is shaping up to be a fascinating month, full of cognitive health research reports and applications. Here you have a roundup, covering food for the brain, cognitive assessments, mental training and DNA, and more.
1) Brain foods: the effects of nutrients on brain function (Nature Neuroscience)
"Brain foods: the effects of nutrients on brain function", by Fernando Gómez-Pinilla.
Abstract: Continue Reading »
As noted in our Market Report, we expect the field of cognitive training (or "brain fitness") software to grow in a variety of education and health-related areas over the next years. One of the most promising areas in our view: helping children and adults with attention deficits improve brain function to reduce ADHD symptoms.
I am glad to present this in-depth discussion on the results of two recent high-quality scientific studies. Let me start with Dr. Rabiner's conclusion:
"Results from these two cognitive training studies highlight that cognitive training interventions may provide an important complement to traditional medication treatment and behavior therapy. Both studies included appropriate control groups, employed random assignment, and had outcome measures provided by individuals who were "blind" to which condition children were assigned to. They are thus well-designed studies from which scientifically sound conclusions can be drawn. They add to the growing research base that intensive practice and training focused of key cognitive skills can have positive effects that extend beyond the training situation itself."
Without futher ado...enjoy the article!
- Alvaro
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Two New Cognitive Training Studies for ADHD Yield Promising Findings
-- By Dr. David Rabiner
Although medication treatment is effective for many children with ADHD, there remains an important need to explore and develop interventions that can complement or even substitute for medication. This is true for a variety of reasons including:
Continue Reading »
Our fellow blogger Jeremy over at PsyBlog has written a thoughtful post comparing the value of a number of cognitive enhancing tools. His overall verdict?
"The evidence for exercise boosting cognitive function is head-and-shoulders above that for brain training, drugs, nutritional supplements and meditation. Scientifically, on the current evidence, exercise is the best way to enhance your cognitive function. And as for its side-effects: yes there is the chance of an injury but exercise can also reduce weight, lower the chance of dementia, improve mood and lead to a longer life-span. Damn those side-effects!"
Article: Which Cognitive Enhancers Really Work: Brain Training, Drugs, Vitamins, Meditation or Exercise?
Jeremy, I started writing this as a comment to your post in your blog, but then it got too long. Let me write my reaction to your post here.
While I appreciate your analysis and share most of your points, I think the "ranking" effort (this type of intervention is better than that one) is ultimately misleading. It is 
based on a faulty search for a general solution/ magic pill for everyone and everything.
If only things were so simple. Perhaps one day there will be research to support that view, but certainly not today. A number of interventions have shown their value. In different populations, and contexts. For "exercise is the best way to enhance your cognitive function" to be true, one needs to have a pretty specific understanding of "best", "your" and "cognitive function".
Continue Reading »
I just read a very interesting article in Newsweek: Executive Functions: The School Skill That May Matter More Than IQ. A few quotes:
- "But recent advances in psychology and brain science are now suggesting that a child's ability to inhibit distracting thoughts and stay focused may be a fundamental cognitive skill, one that plays a big part in academic success from 
preschool on. Indeed, this and closely related skills may be more important than traditional IQ in predicting a child's school performance."
- "EF (executive functions) comprises not only effortful control and cognitive focus but also working memory and mental flexibility—the ability to adjust to change, to think outside the box."
- "When the teacher holds up a circle they clap, with a triangle they hop, and so forth. The kids are taught to talk themselves through the mental exercise: "OK, now clap." "Twirl now." This has been shown to flex and enhance the brain's ability to switch gears, to suppress one piece of information and sub in a new one. It takes discipline; it's the elementary school equivalent of saying "I really need stop thinking about next week's vacation and focus on this report."
The main points: executive functions are crucial for success in life, AND they can be trained. I couldn't agree more with the article in that cognitive training should be part of the education curriculum and receive more research dollars to determine exactly how to best do so.
I read another very interesting article on Alzheimer's Disease. Which may look like a completely different topic than the one above...but please bear with me. Continue Reading »
Here you are have the bi-monthly Digest of our most Popular blog posts. (Also, remember that you can subscribe to receive our blog RSS feed, or to our newsletter at the top of this page if you want to receive this digest by email).
Brain Fitness News and Events
Upcoming Events: I will be speaking at five Health, Education and Gaming events over the next couple of months to introduce findings from our recent market report. Please introduce yourself if you attend any of these events.
Preventing Memory Loss-Special Issue: Congressional Quarterly Researcher, one of the main publications on Capitol Hill, published an impressive 24-page special issue titled Preventing Memory Loss. Highly recommended if you want to be on top of the latest research trends and their policy implications.
Continue Reading »
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