Babies and Robots to Learn about Behavior Development
Saturday, November 6th, 2010
Developmental psychologists at University of Miami and computer scientists from University of California at San Diego are engaged in an interesting research.
Firstly, they observed 13 mothers playing with their infants aged one to six months. The observation was for five minute periods every week for approximately 14 sessions per mother-infant. The sessions were videotaped for a subsequent interdisciplinary study.
Researchers found that babies and mothers find a pattern while playing, which becomes stable and predictable as the child grows. When the baby smiles, the mom smiles and when the baby stops mom also stops. Babies soon learn to expect people to respond to them in a particular manner. In time, babies also learn to respond to their moms. And social skills begin to develop.
The next phase is to program a baby robot (1.3 meters tall and modeled after a one-year old child) with basic social skills and the ability to learn more complicated interactions.
In essence, babies teach researchers how to program the robot, and while doing the programming, scientists get deeper insights into human behavior development. The robot seeks mechanically to closely simulate human motor system. The study thus helps both robotics and understanding of behavior development.
Read more details at Science Blog.
Tags: behavior development, cognitive science, robotics
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Cognitive Science and Society
Saturday, October 16th, 2010
Cognitive science is apparently hard to define with different defintions emphasizing cognition, information processing, mind and behavior, human intelligence and so on. Is this science being applied to solve the practical problems of our society?
Human personality is developed by both genetics and early experiences during childhood. If parents and teachers are adequately aware of the knowledge gained about early childhood development, it could enable them to control the experiences of children more purposefully. And such control could help develop the children into healthy adults able to function positively in society.
Of particular relevance is childhood education. Enriching the early experiences of children can have positive outcomes, according to findings of the science. How this finding is applied depends on the educational policy adopted by concerned policymakers. Equally important is the need to recognize those periods of childhood development when experiences have particularly strong impact and to ensure that children receive rich experiences during those periods.
Deliberate attention needs to be paid to the different dimensions of development – cognitive, emotional and social. Merely trying to cram information into an unreceptive mind or developing math or other skills will not produce the kind of adults that society needs.
Read views about neuro-education initiatives and other topics at the BrainBlogger.
Tags: child development, childhood experiences, cognitive science, education
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Learning and the Teenager Brain
Friday, October 8th, 2010
The development of adolescents can be compared to a voyage of discovery. They are discovering the limits of what are possible physically and culturally. For example, they learn what behavior is acceptable in their culture.
The development is a gradual process that does not occur all at once. The rate of development also differs from person to person. Parents can influence the process by careful observation of their children’s interests and abilities, and providing challenges that speed up the development.
If the challenges are too ambitious, the adolescent might feel stressed beyond healthy levels. If the challenges are too low, the adolescent will usually get bored. The only way to get it reasonably right is continuous observation of responses to your actions.
Human behavior is not all that predetermined. There is a significant element of personal choices and a wide range to choose from. The width of the range becomes obvious when we observe the wide disparity in people’s views and actions on such matters as politics and religion.
As the adolescent develops towards adulthood, he or she discovers his or her interests and capabilities. In addition to finding what is physically possible, they also learn what is culturally acceptable.
Read about the views of Dr Robert Sylvester, described as an educator of educators, on the above and related issues at joste2008.com.
Tags: adolescent development, cognitive development, cognitive science
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Impact of Computers and Connectivity on Human Relationships and Cognition
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
The explosive growth in computer power and connectivity is changing the relationships among people and organizations. For example, real-time conversation between strangers at opposite ends of the world has become a commonplace occurrence these days. This is something that would have been rare indeed in a pre-Internet world.
What is the impact of such developments on human relationships is something that does indeed deserve serious research.
Another major area affected by powerful computers and connectivity is concerned with learning and discovery. For example, the Web has opened up new learning and information opportunities to the general public all across the world. It has also made possible discoveries in science that would not have been possible with the slow and limited methods of traditional scientific research.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) had announced grants under its Knowledge and Distributed intelligence initiative-a program that fosters interdisciplinary research into the effects of the explosive growth in computer power and connectivity.
A significant number of the finally approved grants were for projects that included a significant cognitive/behavioral/ psychological science aspect, reports the Observer, published by the Association of Psychological Science.
Read the report titled Psychological Science Makes Strong Showing.
Tags: cognitive science, human relationships, learning and discovery, organizational functioning
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Cognitive Science in Education
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
WestEd’s National Center for Cognition and Mathematics Instruction (NCCMI) is redesigning its existing mathematics curriculum using principles of cognitive science to improve student outcomes. It will use current cognitive science knowledge about how we acquire, retain and transfer knowledge for the redesign project. The project will then evaluate whether the new curriculum has indeed improved students’ mathematics achievement.
The project focus will be on the widely used Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) curriculum for middle schools. The evaluation of the revised project will be done through multiple studies.
The team that will execute the project includes experienced and accomplished experts in cognitive research, mathematics instruction specialists, assessment and measurement experts, curriculum writers, professional developers and national advisers.
WestEd will work on the project along with partners such as CMP, Carnegie Mellon University, Temple University and other universities, and Apple Computer Inc. They will also establish a diverse community of users to learn from and apply the NCCMI research.
WestEd is a research, development and service agency that works with education and other communities to promote excellence, achieve equity and improve learning. The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences is funding the research.
Read more at WestEd website.
Tags: cognitive science, education, imparting knowledge, student outcomes
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Communication through Gestures
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
Gestures are hand movements we use automatically (or even consciously) to supplement or replace verbal communications. According to some experts, gestures (i) call attention to important parts of speech, (ii) provide information not available in speech, (iii) replace words that are not immediately accessible and (iv) offer a shared means for silent group communication.
Children learn to gesture quite early, probably by observing adults, and use gestures to communicate information they cannot yet do verbally. It can be seen as revealing unspoken thoughts and skills that children are on the verge of learning. Gesturing can also influence children’s learning.
Gesturing is so ingrained that we often supplement our speech with gestures even when the other party to the conversation cannot see it, as during a telephone conversation. Politicians might use gesturing consciously to give an impression that they are honest and trustworthy (and even intelligent).
Despite the universality and importance of gestures, its purpose, development and mechanisms do not appear to have been studied with the kind of seriousness that other topics have received. One theory has it that gesturing is intended to conjure up spoken words, and also complements the words to increase comprehension by the listener.
Read an article on how gesturing promotes skill acquisition through childhood at World.Intellectualprops.com.
Tags: cognitive science, communication, gestures, non-verbal
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Cognitive Science Research at Cognitive Development Lab
Saturday, May 15th, 2010
The cognitive lab at UC Merced investigates social reasoning in children and adults. How do we acquire attitudes and social norms, for example? And how do we change acquired social knowledge? There are several research projects on a variety of social topics, as illustrated in the examples below, going on at the lab.
Usually, we affiliate with groups, such as family and friends, for the rich experiences that these groups provide. One research investigates whether people will still prefer groups when no such rich experiences are available. Work at the lab confirms that children do affiliate with even randomly created, unfamiliar groups that they have been put into.
Another research project concerns the role of language. Language is usually seen simply as a vehicle to communicate ideas. According to one view, language does more; it shapes the nature of our thinking. Cultural concepts provide building blocks for our ideas. Research at the lab with bilingual speakers suggest that people respond differently depending on the language they are addressed in.
Adults have attitudes and stereotypes about different social groups. Do children also view social groups in the same way? Research suggests that they do; implicit social attitudes appear early and remain stable during a lifetime.
Visit the Cognitive Lab website for a look at the work the lab does.
Tags: attitudes, cognitive science, group affiliation, language, social knowledge, stereotypes
Posted in cognitive science, culture, language, learning | 2 Comments »
What Makes for Good Learning and Development?
Friday, May 7th, 2010
Traditionally, psychology has studied children’s development by observing the behavior of children at different ages. Observations have led to conclusions about the ages at which a child acquires different skills and behavior patterns. However, mere observation cannot fully help in improving, for example, the learning abilities of children.
To develop techniques that can help children learn better we need to understand the cause and effect relationships in operation. It is this causal relationship that computational modeling can help understand. Computational models force researchers to explain exactly what they mean by specific terms.
Terms like learning and development, and the various other words used in studying it, must be specified in terms precise enough to incorporate them into computer models. And translating theories into computer models tend to highlight the interdependencies of different elements involved. A model also needs to be internally consistent and complete to some extent before it will function.
The increased specificity and need for consistency tend to reveal the cause and effect relationships involved and lead to insights that can lead to more precise research. And when you know causal factors that lead to specific results, you can design better ways to achieve desired results.
A Wiley article discusses the use of computational modeling in studying cognitive development.
Tags: cognitive development, cognitive science, computational modeling
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Do Arts Training Matter in School?
Friday, April 9th, 2010
Yes, says jensenlearning.com. Arts training changes the brain physically in ways that enhance academic and social performance of students, according to the writer. This might surprise people who believe that arts affect only one’s emotions.
Arts should be considered a stand-alone discipline on its own that can contribute to the goals we seek through teaching, viz. brain functioning in ways that are academically and socially useful. Arts training changes the brain in ways that other disciplines do not do.
As things stand now, teachers are likely to be overwhelmed with the variety of suggested teaching strategies. Choosing among the strategies becomes a hit or miss affair with no certainty of successful results. This situation, together with the pressure to produce better results, can lead to teacher burnout.
The author of the post advocates focusing on fewer things, on things that have demonstrated their effectiveness. Arts have proven their effectiveness in improving attentional and cognitive skills. Dana Foundation had funded a study to discover the effect of arts on the brain and the resultant findings showed that music enhances cognition, for example.
The brain is plastic, a constantly changing thing. And arts training changes in desirable ways. The article titled Musical training shapes structural brain development in The Journal of Neuroscience provides peer-reviewed evidence.
Read the post at jensenlearning.com
Tags: arts training, cognitive functioning, cognitive science, education, learning, social skills
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Workshop on Cognitive Tutor Development
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
Cognitive Tutoring reportedly aligns student learning process to “best practices” of learning. It is particularly suitable for education delivery over the Web where the trainer and student will not have face-to-face interactions. A number of cognitive tutor authoring tools are available on the Web.
The workshop on “Hands-on introduction to creating intelligent tutoring systems without programming using the Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT)” is to be conducted during the 9th International Conference of the Learning Sciences,
at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel, Chicago and is scheduled for
June 29.
The conference will provide background on cognitive tutors and how Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools (CTAT) work. Participants will get an overview of the process of CTAT development and extensive hands-on use of both basic and advanced CTAT features. These will be supplemented with illustrations and examples that provide specific insights into actual applications.
The course will prove of value to learning science researchers who will learn to create cognitive tutors even if they have no programming skill. The researchers will then be able to decide whether the tool will be of use to them.
Participants are expected to bring laptops with pre-installed CTAT software, which can be downloaded free from Carnegie Mellon.
Read more about the workshop at ICLS 2010 announcement.
Tags: cognitive science, cognitive tutor, education delivery, learning research
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