Presentation by Professor John T. Bruer, entitled 'Distortions of Neuroscience', to the conference The Uses and Abuses of Biology: Neuroscience, Parenting and British Family Policy, Friday 28 March 2014, Birkbeck, London University. Event organised by the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, the University of Kent.
Presentation by Dr Jan Macvarish, entitled The Uses and Abuses of Biology: Neuroscience, Parenting and British Family Policy, given to the conference of the same name on Friday 28 March 2014, Birkbeck, London University. The conference was organised by the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, the University of Kent.
Sibling Birth Spacing Influence on Extroversion, Introversion and Aggressiven...inventionjournals
Sibling spacing refers to the birth interval between consecutive children in the family. The family is the basic unit of socialization. Family interactions and other dynamics such as birth order and sibling spacing shape the personality of children. This study investigated the relationship between sibling birth spacing and, extroversion and introversion characteristics of adolescents in Nairobi, Kenya. The study adopted mixed methods research paradigm with the correlation design. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select three schools for the study sample and participants. From each of the three schools, twenty five students were selected to make a total sample of 75 participants. The data collection instruments for the study were standardized questionnaires and observation guides. Data was collected and analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis and Analysis of Variance. The study concluded that close sibling spacing tends to produce extraverted and highly aggressive children while wide sibling spacing tends to produce introverted and less aggressive children. The study further found that the only children, ranked highest in introversion and, lowest in aggressiveness and extraversion. The study recommended that sibling spacing knowledge should be used by school career guidance masters as locally available method of predicting personality.
Presentation by Dr Jan Macvarish, entitled The Uses and Abuses of Biology: Neuroscience, Parenting and British Family Policy, given to the conference of the same name on Friday 28 March 2014, Birkbeck, London University. The conference was organised by the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, the University of Kent.
Sibling Birth Spacing Influence on Extroversion, Introversion and Aggressiven...inventionjournals
Sibling spacing refers to the birth interval between consecutive children in the family. The family is the basic unit of socialization. Family interactions and other dynamics such as birth order and sibling spacing shape the personality of children. This study investigated the relationship between sibling birth spacing and, extroversion and introversion characteristics of adolescents in Nairobi, Kenya. The study adopted mixed methods research paradigm with the correlation design. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select three schools for the study sample and participants. From each of the three schools, twenty five students were selected to make a total sample of 75 participants. The data collection instruments for the study were standardized questionnaires and observation guides. Data was collected and analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis and Analysis of Variance. The study concluded that close sibling spacing tends to produce extraverted and highly aggressive children while wide sibling spacing tends to produce introverted and less aggressive children. The study further found that the only children, ranked highest in introversion and, lowest in aggressiveness and extraversion. The study recommended that sibling spacing knowledge should be used by school career guidance masters as locally available method of predicting personality.
A Unified Theory of Development A Dialectic Integration of Na.docxdaniahendric
A Unified Theory of Development: A Dialectic Integration of Nature
and Nurture
Arnold Sameroff
University of Michigan
The understanding of nature and nurture within developmental science has evolved with alternating ascen-
dance of one or the other as primary explanations for individual differences in life course trajectories of suc-
cess or failure. A dialectical perspective emphasizing the interconnectedness of individual and context is
suggested to interpret the evolution of developmental science in similar terms to those necessary to explain
the development of individual children. A unified theory of development is proposed to integrate personal
change, context, regulation, and representational models of development.
The attention of philosophers and then scientists to
human development has always begun with a con-
cern that children should grow up to be good citi-
zens who would contribute to society through
diligent labor, moral family life, civil obedience,
and, more recently, to be happy while making these
contributions. The motivation for these concerns
was that there were many adults who were not.
Although attention was paid to the socialization
and education of children, it was ultimately in the
service of improving adult performance. The socie-
tal concern has always had a life-span perspective.
Without healthy, productive adults no culture
could continue to be successful. This concern
continues to be a major motivator for society to
support child development research. Although the
intellectual interests of contemporary develop-
mental researchers range widely in cognitive and
social–emotional domains, the political justification
for supporting such studies is that they will lead to
the understanding and ultimate prevention of
behavioral problems that are costly to society.
With these motivations and supports there have
been major advances in our understanding of the
intellectual, emotional, and social behavior of
children, adolescents, and adults. Moreover these
understandings have increasingly involved multi-
level processes cutting across disciplinary bound-
aries in the social and natural sciences. This
progress has forced conceptual reorientations as
earlier unidirectional views that biological or social
circumstance controlled individual behavior are
becoming multidirectional perspectives where indi-
vidual behavior reciprocally changes both biologi-
cal and social circumstance.
The models we use to understand how individ-
uals change over time have increased in complex-
ity from linear to interactive to transactive to
multilevel dynamic systems. Was this progression
in complexity an expression of empirical advances
in our developmental research or is it related to
more general progressions in the history of science
as a whole? Several years ago during a discussion
of a need for a critical social history of develop-
mental psychology by a number of distinguished
scientists (Bronfenbrenner, Kessel, Kessen, &
White, 198 ...
Child Development in the Broader Context of Developmental Science.docxbissacr
Child Development in the Broader Context of Developmental Science
Child development is one aspect of the broader, interdisciplinary field of developmental science, which includes the entire lifespan. Researchers in the area of child development typically divide these initial years into five age periods encompassing conception through adolescence.
PRENATAL PERIOD
INFANCY AND TODDLERHOOD
EARLY CHILDHOOD PERIOD
MIDDLE CHILDHOOD PERIOD
ADOLESCENT PERIOD
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Does society or culture have an impact on child development? Of course! Each individual has a different religious, ethnic, and economic background. Since all of those factors influence our development, there has been a rise in research studies that address the cultural context of children’s lives. Researchers are examining the effect of culturally specific beliefs and practices on development.
Sociocultural theory, developed by Lev Vygotsky, focuses on how culture is transmitted to the next generation. Vygotsky believed that social interaction with more knowledgeable members of society is necessary for children to develop the ways of thinking and behaving that comprise a community’s culture. He saw cognitive development as a socially mediated process in which children depend on assistance from peers and adults as they take on new challenges. One additional discovery of cross-cultural research is that each individual culture may emphasize different tasks for childr
Ecological Systems Theory
Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917–2005) posited that our environment, consisting of our home, school, neighborhood, and beyond, is a series of structures that form a system. Each layer of that system interacts with the others and has a powerful impact on development. According to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, children develop within this complex system of relationships and are affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment.
MICROSYSTEM
MESOSYSTEM
EXOSYSTEM
MACROSYSTEM
CHRONOSYSTEM
An Illustration of Ecological Systems Theory: The Transition to Siblinghood
The early weeks after a new baby enters the family are full of profound changes. While the arrival of a newborn sibling is a normative life event for many children, the transition to siblinghood can result in a mixture of positive and negative emotions. Some children welcome the new arrival, while others experience a developmental setback in a specific area like toilet training. Volling (2005) provides a developmental ecological systems approach to examine changes in both child and family functioning that occur with the birth of a new baby.
‹ 1/5 ›
Significant changes occur within the immediate family (microsystem). Because the mother may spend most of the early weeks after the birth caring for the newborn, the quality of the father–child relationship may be particularly important for sibling adjustment.
Development as a Dynamic System
According to a theory known as dynamic systems perspective, a child.
Cognitive Development The last two decades .docxpickersgillkayne
Cognitive Development
“The last two decades of infancy research have seen dramatic changes in the
way developmental psychologists char
acterize the earliest stages of cognitive
development. The infant, once regarded
as an organism driven mainly by sim
ple sensorimotor schemes, is now seen
as possessing sophisticated cognitive
skills and even sophisticated concepts
that guide knowledge acquisition”
(Madole and Oakes 1999, 263).
“What we see in the crib is the great
est mind that has ever existed, the
most powerful learning machine in
the universe” (Gopnik, Meltzoff, and
Kuhl 1999, 1).
The term cognitive development
refers to the process of growth and
change in intellectual/mental abilities
such as thinking, reasoning and
understanding. It includes the acquisi
tion and consolidation of knowledge.
Infants draw on social-emotional,
language, motor, and perceptual
experiences and abilities for cognitive
development. They are attuned to
relationships between features of
objects, actions, and the physical
environment. But they are particularly
attuned to people. Parents, family
members, friends, teachers, and care
givers play a vital role in supporting
the cognitive development of infants by
providing the healthy interpersonal or
social-emotional context in which
cognitive development unfolds. Caring,
responsive adults provide the base
from which infants can fully engage in
behaviors and interactions that pro
mote learning. Such adults also serve
as a prime source of imitation.
Cultural context is important to
young children’s cognitive develop
ment. There is substantial variation
in how intelligence is defined within
different cultures (Sternberg and
Grigorenko 2004). As a result, dif
ferent aspects of cognitive function
ing or cognitive performance may be
more highly valued in some cultural
contexts than in others. For example,
whereas processing speed is an aspect
of intelligence that is highly valued
within the predominant Western con
ceptualizations of intelligence, “Ugan
dan villagers associate intelligence
with adjectives such as slow, careful,
and active” (Rogoff and Chavajay 1995,
865.). Aspects of intelligence that have
to do with social competence appear to
be seen as more important than speed
��
C
O
G
N
IT
IV
E
D
E
V
E
L
O
P
M
E
N
T
60
in some non-Western cultural contexts
(Sternberg and Grigorenko 2004). Cer
tainly, it is crucial for early childhood
professionals to recognize the role that
cultural context plays in defining and
setting the stage for children’s healthy
cognitive functioning.
Research has identified a broad
range of cognitive competencies and
described the remarkable progres
sion of cognitive development during
the early childhood years. Experts in
the field describe infants as active,
motivated, and engaged learners who
possess an impressive range of cogni
tive competencies (National Research
Council and Institute of.
Cognitive Development
“The last two decades of infancy research have seen dramatic changes in the
way developmental psychologists char
acterize the earliest stages of cognitive
development. The infant, once regarded
as an organism driven mainly by sim
ple sensorimotor schemes, is now seen
as possessing sophisticated cognitive
skills and even sophisticated concepts
that guide knowledge acquisition”
(Madole and Oakes 1999, 263).
“What we see in the crib is the great
est mind that has ever existed, the
most powerful learning machine in
the universe” (Gopnik, Meltzoff, and
Kuhl 1999, 1).
The term cognitive development
refers to the process of growth and
change in intellectual/mental abilities
such as thinking, reasoning and
understanding. It includes the acquisi
tion and consolidation of knowledge.
Infants draw on social-emotional,
language, motor, and perceptual
experiences and abilities for cognitive
development. They are attuned to
relationships between features of
objects, actions, and the physical
environment. But they are particularly
attuned to people. Parents, family
members, friends, teachers, and care
givers play a vital role in supporting
the cognitive development of infants by
providing the healthy interpersonal or
social-emotional context in which
cognitive development unfolds. Caring,
responsive adults provide the base
from which infants can fully engage in
behaviors and interactions that pro
mote learning. Such adults also serve
as a prime source of imitation.
Cultural context is important to
young children’s cognitive develop
ment. There is substantial variation
in how intelligence is defined within
different cultures (Sternberg and
Grigorenko 2004). As a result, dif
ferent aspects of cognitive function
ing or cognitive performance may be
more highly valued in some cultural
contexts than in others. For example,
whereas processing speed is an aspect
of intelligence that is highly valued
within the predominant Western con
ceptualizations of intelligence, “Ugan
dan villagers associate intelligence
with adjectives such as slow, careful,
and active” (Rogoff and Chavajay 1995,
865.). Aspects of intelligence that have
to do with social competence appear to
be seen as more important than speed
��
C
O
G
N
IT
IV
E
D
E
V
E
L
O
P
M
E
N
T
60
in some non-Western cultural contexts
(Sternberg and Grigorenko 2004). Cer
tainly, it is crucial for early childhood
professionals to recognize the role that
cultural context plays in defining and
setting the stage for children’s healthy
cognitive functioning.
Research has identified a broad
range of cognitive competencies and
described the remarkable progres
sion of cognitive development during
the early childhood years. Experts in
the field describe infants as active,
motivated, and engaged learners who
possess an impressive range of cogni
tive competencies (National Research
Council and Institute of ...
TIMING MATTERS: HOW TO THINK ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF EARLY EXPERIENCE ON BRAIN...happy-yurikago
These documents were presented by Dr. NATHAN A. FOX, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND at the session sponsored by The Nippon Foundation, Tokyo, Japan, in the international society for the prevention of child abuse and neglect conference in Nagoya, Japan, on September 14, 2014.
1. How do people make decisions?
2. The adolescent brain and theories of decision-making
3. What can we do to help
Connections: The Learning Sciences Platform integrates a humane approach in the educational processes through creative initiatives using an interdisciplinary and international perspective.
Connections work is focus on:
- Educational Support “in situ”
- Professional Development
- Educational Research
- Promotion of free resources to improve the learning sciences
Visit our social networks
- Website: http://thelearningsciences.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/connectionstlsp/
- Instagram: ConexionesPCA2017
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Contact us:
E-mail: info@thelearningsciences.com
Mobile: +593 995 615 247
Children's longing for everydayness after tbiRichard Radecki
This is a interesting subject. Now, if sleep is disturbed after brain injury, which is not in my experienced addressed well in the acute phase of rehab, how about the "self". I've always stated that acute rehab is the simple time. Post-acute and community re-intergration has less resource dedication, knowledge, and research. Look at this article and try to grasp this struggle. With resource utilization focusing on movement there is still a paucity of effort on self and quality of life! Also note that this is reported as the first article looking at the individual for quality concepts.
A Unified Theory of Development A Dialectic Integration of Na.docxdaniahendric
A Unified Theory of Development: A Dialectic Integration of Nature
and Nurture
Arnold Sameroff
University of Michigan
The understanding of nature and nurture within developmental science has evolved with alternating ascen-
dance of one or the other as primary explanations for individual differences in life course trajectories of suc-
cess or failure. A dialectical perspective emphasizing the interconnectedness of individual and context is
suggested to interpret the evolution of developmental science in similar terms to those necessary to explain
the development of individual children. A unified theory of development is proposed to integrate personal
change, context, regulation, and representational models of development.
The attention of philosophers and then scientists to
human development has always begun with a con-
cern that children should grow up to be good citi-
zens who would contribute to society through
diligent labor, moral family life, civil obedience,
and, more recently, to be happy while making these
contributions. The motivation for these concerns
was that there were many adults who were not.
Although attention was paid to the socialization
and education of children, it was ultimately in the
service of improving adult performance. The socie-
tal concern has always had a life-span perspective.
Without healthy, productive adults no culture
could continue to be successful. This concern
continues to be a major motivator for society to
support child development research. Although the
intellectual interests of contemporary develop-
mental researchers range widely in cognitive and
social–emotional domains, the political justification
for supporting such studies is that they will lead to
the understanding and ultimate prevention of
behavioral problems that are costly to society.
With these motivations and supports there have
been major advances in our understanding of the
intellectual, emotional, and social behavior of
children, adolescents, and adults. Moreover these
understandings have increasingly involved multi-
level processes cutting across disciplinary bound-
aries in the social and natural sciences. This
progress has forced conceptual reorientations as
earlier unidirectional views that biological or social
circumstance controlled individual behavior are
becoming multidirectional perspectives where indi-
vidual behavior reciprocally changes both biologi-
cal and social circumstance.
The models we use to understand how individ-
uals change over time have increased in complex-
ity from linear to interactive to transactive to
multilevel dynamic systems. Was this progression
in complexity an expression of empirical advances
in our developmental research or is it related to
more general progressions in the history of science
as a whole? Several years ago during a discussion
of a need for a critical social history of develop-
mental psychology by a number of distinguished
scientists (Bronfenbrenner, Kessel, Kessen, &
White, 198 ...
Child Development in the Broader Context of Developmental Science.docxbissacr
Child Development in the Broader Context of Developmental Science
Child development is one aspect of the broader, interdisciplinary field of developmental science, which includes the entire lifespan. Researchers in the area of child development typically divide these initial years into five age periods encompassing conception through adolescence.
PRENATAL PERIOD
INFANCY AND TODDLERHOOD
EARLY CHILDHOOD PERIOD
MIDDLE CHILDHOOD PERIOD
ADOLESCENT PERIOD
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Does society or culture have an impact on child development? Of course! Each individual has a different religious, ethnic, and economic background. Since all of those factors influence our development, there has been a rise in research studies that address the cultural context of children’s lives. Researchers are examining the effect of culturally specific beliefs and practices on development.
Sociocultural theory, developed by Lev Vygotsky, focuses on how culture is transmitted to the next generation. Vygotsky believed that social interaction with more knowledgeable members of society is necessary for children to develop the ways of thinking and behaving that comprise a community’s culture. He saw cognitive development as a socially mediated process in which children depend on assistance from peers and adults as they take on new challenges. One additional discovery of cross-cultural research is that each individual culture may emphasize different tasks for childr
Ecological Systems Theory
Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917–2005) posited that our environment, consisting of our home, school, neighborhood, and beyond, is a series of structures that form a system. Each layer of that system interacts with the others and has a powerful impact on development. According to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, children develop within this complex system of relationships and are affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment.
MICROSYSTEM
MESOSYSTEM
EXOSYSTEM
MACROSYSTEM
CHRONOSYSTEM
An Illustration of Ecological Systems Theory: The Transition to Siblinghood
The early weeks after a new baby enters the family are full of profound changes. While the arrival of a newborn sibling is a normative life event for many children, the transition to siblinghood can result in a mixture of positive and negative emotions. Some children welcome the new arrival, while others experience a developmental setback in a specific area like toilet training. Volling (2005) provides a developmental ecological systems approach to examine changes in both child and family functioning that occur with the birth of a new baby.
‹ 1/5 ›
Significant changes occur within the immediate family (microsystem). Because the mother may spend most of the early weeks after the birth caring for the newborn, the quality of the father–child relationship may be particularly important for sibling adjustment.
Development as a Dynamic System
According to a theory known as dynamic systems perspective, a child.
Cognitive Development The last two decades .docxpickersgillkayne
Cognitive Development
“The last two decades of infancy research have seen dramatic changes in the
way developmental psychologists char
acterize the earliest stages of cognitive
development. The infant, once regarded
as an organism driven mainly by sim
ple sensorimotor schemes, is now seen
as possessing sophisticated cognitive
skills and even sophisticated concepts
that guide knowledge acquisition”
(Madole and Oakes 1999, 263).
“What we see in the crib is the great
est mind that has ever existed, the
most powerful learning machine in
the universe” (Gopnik, Meltzoff, and
Kuhl 1999, 1).
The term cognitive development
refers to the process of growth and
change in intellectual/mental abilities
such as thinking, reasoning and
understanding. It includes the acquisi
tion and consolidation of knowledge.
Infants draw on social-emotional,
language, motor, and perceptual
experiences and abilities for cognitive
development. They are attuned to
relationships between features of
objects, actions, and the physical
environment. But they are particularly
attuned to people. Parents, family
members, friends, teachers, and care
givers play a vital role in supporting
the cognitive development of infants by
providing the healthy interpersonal or
social-emotional context in which
cognitive development unfolds. Caring,
responsive adults provide the base
from which infants can fully engage in
behaviors and interactions that pro
mote learning. Such adults also serve
as a prime source of imitation.
Cultural context is important to
young children’s cognitive develop
ment. There is substantial variation
in how intelligence is defined within
different cultures (Sternberg and
Grigorenko 2004). As a result, dif
ferent aspects of cognitive function
ing or cognitive performance may be
more highly valued in some cultural
contexts than in others. For example,
whereas processing speed is an aspect
of intelligence that is highly valued
within the predominant Western con
ceptualizations of intelligence, “Ugan
dan villagers associate intelligence
with adjectives such as slow, careful,
and active” (Rogoff and Chavajay 1995,
865.). Aspects of intelligence that have
to do with social competence appear to
be seen as more important than speed
��
C
O
G
N
IT
IV
E
D
E
V
E
L
O
P
M
E
N
T
60
in some non-Western cultural contexts
(Sternberg and Grigorenko 2004). Cer
tainly, it is crucial for early childhood
professionals to recognize the role that
cultural context plays in defining and
setting the stage for children’s healthy
cognitive functioning.
Research has identified a broad
range of cognitive competencies and
described the remarkable progres
sion of cognitive development during
the early childhood years. Experts in
the field describe infants as active,
motivated, and engaged learners who
possess an impressive range of cogni
tive competencies (National Research
Council and Institute of.
Cognitive Development
“The last two decades of infancy research have seen dramatic changes in the
way developmental psychologists char
acterize the earliest stages of cognitive
development. The infant, once regarded
as an organism driven mainly by sim
ple sensorimotor schemes, is now seen
as possessing sophisticated cognitive
skills and even sophisticated concepts
that guide knowledge acquisition”
(Madole and Oakes 1999, 263).
“What we see in the crib is the great
est mind that has ever existed, the
most powerful learning machine in
the universe” (Gopnik, Meltzoff, and
Kuhl 1999, 1).
The term cognitive development
refers to the process of growth and
change in intellectual/mental abilities
such as thinking, reasoning and
understanding. It includes the acquisi
tion and consolidation of knowledge.
Infants draw on social-emotional,
language, motor, and perceptual
experiences and abilities for cognitive
development. They are attuned to
relationships between features of
objects, actions, and the physical
environment. But they are particularly
attuned to people. Parents, family
members, friends, teachers, and care
givers play a vital role in supporting
the cognitive development of infants by
providing the healthy interpersonal or
social-emotional context in which
cognitive development unfolds. Caring,
responsive adults provide the base
from which infants can fully engage in
behaviors and interactions that pro
mote learning. Such adults also serve
as a prime source of imitation.
Cultural context is important to
young children’s cognitive develop
ment. There is substantial variation
in how intelligence is defined within
different cultures (Sternberg and
Grigorenko 2004). As a result, dif
ferent aspects of cognitive function
ing or cognitive performance may be
more highly valued in some cultural
contexts than in others. For example,
whereas processing speed is an aspect
of intelligence that is highly valued
within the predominant Western con
ceptualizations of intelligence, “Ugan
dan villagers associate intelligence
with adjectives such as slow, careful,
and active” (Rogoff and Chavajay 1995,
865.). Aspects of intelligence that have
to do with social competence appear to
be seen as more important than speed
��
C
O
G
N
IT
IV
E
D
E
V
E
L
O
P
M
E
N
T
60
in some non-Western cultural contexts
(Sternberg and Grigorenko 2004). Cer
tainly, it is crucial for early childhood
professionals to recognize the role that
cultural context plays in defining and
setting the stage for children’s healthy
cognitive functioning.
Research has identified a broad
range of cognitive competencies and
described the remarkable progres
sion of cognitive development during
the early childhood years. Experts in
the field describe infants as active,
motivated, and engaged learners who
possess an impressive range of cogni
tive competencies (National Research
Council and Institute of ...
TIMING MATTERS: HOW TO THINK ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF EARLY EXPERIENCE ON BRAIN...happy-yurikago
These documents were presented by Dr. NATHAN A. FOX, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND at the session sponsored by The Nippon Foundation, Tokyo, Japan, in the international society for the prevention of child abuse and neglect conference in Nagoya, Japan, on September 14, 2014.
1. How do people make decisions?
2. The adolescent brain and theories of decision-making
3. What can we do to help
Connections: The Learning Sciences Platform integrates a humane approach in the educational processes through creative initiatives using an interdisciplinary and international perspective.
Connections work is focus on:
- Educational Support “in situ”
- Professional Development
- Educational Research
- Promotion of free resources to improve the learning sciences
Visit our social networks
- Website: http://thelearningsciences.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/connectionstlsp/
- Instagram: ConexionesPCA2017
- Slideshare: https://www.slideshare.net/Lascienciasdelaprendizaje
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyUDsQmjsiJl8T2w5-EF78g
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company-beta/16212567/
Contact us:
E-mail: info@thelearningsciences.com
Mobile: +593 995 615 247
Children's longing for everydayness after tbiRichard Radecki
This is a interesting subject. Now, if sleep is disturbed after brain injury, which is not in my experienced addressed well in the acute phase of rehab, how about the "self". I've always stated that acute rehab is the simple time. Post-acute and community re-intergration has less resource dedication, knowledge, and research. Look at this article and try to grasp this struggle. With resource utilization focusing on movement there is still a paucity of effort on self and quality of life! Also note that this is reported as the first article looking at the individual for quality concepts.
Similar to John Bruer Presentation to The Uses and Abuses of Biology: Neuroscience, Parenting and British Family Policy. (16)
Presentation by Val Gillies, London South Bank University, to The Uses and Abuses of Biology: Neuroscience, Parenting and Family Policy, 28 March 2014.
हम आग्रह करते हैं कि जो भी सत्ता में आए, वह संविधान का पालन करे, उसकी रक्षा करे और उसे बनाए रखे।" प्रस्ताव में कुल तीन प्रमुख हस्तक्षेप और उनके तंत्र भी प्रस्तुत किए गए। पहला हस्तक्षेप स्वतंत्र मीडिया को प्रोत्साहित करके, वास्तविकता पर आधारित काउंटर नैरेटिव का निर्माण करके और सत्तारूढ़ सरकार द्वारा नियोजित मनोवैज्ञानिक हेरफेर की रणनीति का मुकाबला करके लोगों द्वारा निर्धारित कथा को बनाए रखना और उस पर कार्यकरना था।
01062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
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role of women and girls in various terror groupssadiakorobi2
Women have three distinct types of involvement: direct involvement in terrorist acts; enabling of others to commit such acts; and facilitating the disengagement of others from violent or extremist groups.
‘वोटर्स विल मस्ट प्रीवेल’ (मतदाताओं को जीतना होगा) अभियान द्वारा जारी हेल्पलाइन नंबर, 4 जून को सुबह 7 बजे से दोपहर 12 बजे तक मतगणना प्रक्रिया में कहीं भी किसी भी तरह के उल्लंघन की रिपोर्ट करने के लिए खुला रहेगा।
In a May 9, 2024 paper, Juri Opitz from the University of Zurich, along with Shira Wein and Nathan Schneider form Georgetown University, discussed the importance of linguistic expertise in natural language processing (NLP) in an era dominated by large language models (LLMs).
The authors explained that while machine translation (MT) previously relied heavily on linguists, the landscape has shifted. “Linguistics is no longer front and center in the way we build NLP systems,” they said. With the emergence of LLMs, which can generate fluent text without the need for specialized modules to handle grammar or semantic coherence, the need for linguistic expertise in NLP is being questioned.
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2. Structure
• Early intervention before neuroscience (1960 – 1994)
• The allure of brain science (1994 – 2000)
• Translating neuroscience into policy (1998 – )
• Some issues and questions
4. “In this respect, the ‘cause’ – intervening in the early years to influence
‘parenting’– can be said to have manifestly established itself in policy
thinking before the ‘argument’ – neuroscientific evidence that the early
years are ‘critical’ – was made by policy-makers.”
The Uses and Abuses of Biology: Neuroscience, Parenting and Family Policy in Britain
A ‘Key Findings’ Report
Ellie Lee, Jan Macvarish, and Pam Lowe
5. This means that nearly half the preschool children
of poverty will get a head start on their future.
These children will receive preschool training to
prepare them for regular school in September.
They will get medical and dental attention that
they badly need, and parents will receive
counseling on improving the home environment.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, Rose Garden at the White House May 18, 1965
6. "There is considerable evidence that the early years of childhood are
the most critical point in the poverty cycle. During those years, the
creation of learning patterns, emotional development, and the
formation of individual expectations and aspirations take place at a
very rapid pace. For the child of poverty, there are clearly observable
deficiencies in these processes, which lay the foundation for a pattern
of failure, and thus a pattern of poverty throughout the child's entire
life."
Recommendations for a Head Start Program by Panel of Experts, Dr. Robert
Cooke, Chief Pediatrician, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Chair, February 16, 1965
7. The Evidence
“The overwhelming import of this work, which is the tremendous
changes that take place in the very early years of childhood and the --
at least as far as our present methods are concerned – smaller changes
that take place in later years. … We have come to the viewpoint
that, while much can be done for culturally deprived children at various
ages, by far the greatest effect can be produced in 1 to 2 years of
preschool experiences in the period of 3 to 5.”
Benjamin Bloom (1965), Congressional testimony on Aid to Elementary and Secondary Schools Act.
8. Early Intervention ≠ Inoculation
In the 1960s, a number of theorists suggested that the first years of life were of
extraordinary importance in remediating the academic disadvantages often observed
among poor and ethnic-minority children. Moreover, in some cases a more radical
suggestion was made: that disadvantaged children could possibly be "inoculated" against
their disadvantages by providing them with enrichment experiences in the first years of
life. It was implied that, like inoculations against infectious diseases, these enrichments
might provide long-lasting protection.
The results of the IHDP call into question the notion that providing enrichment
experiences in the first few years of life can protect children against biological
disadvantages over extended periods of time.
Brooks-Gunn et al. (1994), Early Intervention in Low-Birth-Weight Premature Infants Results Through Age 5
Years From the Infant Health and Development Program. JAMA.
9. Head Start Enters Adulthood (1990)
• Many educators assume that “quality preschool programs trigger a process that creates a lasting positive
effect on young lives. But is the evidence there to support these grand claims? Examination of the research
that has been done on early intervention programs since Head Start began in Lyndon Johnson's Great
Society suggests it is not.”
• “… dozens of studies have confirmed its finding that the intellectual effects of Head Start and similar efforts
are short-lived.” (fade out)
• “One rarely questioned assumption, says developmental psychologist Sandra Scarr of the University of
Virginia, is that "earlier is better" for getting children on the right track. There is quite a mystique in our
culture about the importance of early intervention,” Scarr says, yet "there is no evidence [for it] whatever.“”
• “ … the latest research on educational intervention suggests that such programs ought to be extended – to
the third grade, say – in order to have maximum impact.”
• “… the evidence remains shaky enough that few researchers are willing to offer overall policy conclusions.”
Constance Holden, Science, 23 March 1990, pp. 1400 - 02
10. The Allure of Neuroscience
Early intervention 1990 - 2000
11.
12. • “How individuals function from the preschool years through
adolescence and even adulthood hinges, to a significant extent on
their experiences before the age of three.” (Starting Points, p.3)
• *Starting Points+ “focused on the strong evidence from research on
brain and behavior development, indicating long term effects of early
experience.” (Dr. David Hamburg, President, Carnegie Corporation)
• Discussion of brain science is confined to 2 ½ pages early in SP, added
in a later draft to present neuroscience relevant to early childhood (0
to 3 years) policy.
13. • By the age of two, toddlers’ brains are as active as
those of adults. By the age of three, the brains of
children are two and a half times more active than
the brains of adults—they stay that way throughout
the first decade of life.” (p. 21)
• 85 percent of a child’s brain development takes place
by the age of 5. Synapses are created with
astonishing speed in the first three years of life. For
the rest of the first decade, a child’s brain has twice
as many synapses as an adult’s brain. This means
that a child’s environment during the first five years
of life can greatly impact the brains’ ability to
develop.”
14. Why the first three years?
Attachment theory
• Theory about the dynamics of long-term relationships.
• Infants need to develop a relationship with a primary care giver, if social and emotional
development is to occur normally.
• Infant attachment categorized using Strange Situation Paradigm
• ~ 20 minute procedure
• Infant behavior when reunited with caregiver
• Correlations between attachment category and subsequent development/behaviors
extending into adulthood.
• [Good mothering+ “is almost useless if delayed until the age of 2 ½ years. In actual fact
this upper age limit for most babies is probably before 12 months.” (Bowlby, 1951)
15. “The Myth of the First Three Years”
The first three years of life is a period of rapid synapse
formation.
This is the critical period in brain development, during which
learning is easiest and most efficient.
During the critical period, environmental enrichment has
profound, irreversible effects on the brain.
16. Countering the Myth
The first three years of life is a period of rapid synapse
formation, but what these changes in brain structure imply for
changes in brain function and behavior is only asserted, not
demonstrated. (e.g. Huttenlocher, Chugani, Perry).
Critical (better, sensitive periods) do occur in development but
they do not map neatly onto periods of rapid synapse
formation, nor is learning easiest and most efficient during this
period.
In rodent studies, environmental enrichment increases the
number of synapses per neuron in visual areas, but this effect
occurs throughout the life span (of rodents).
17. • “ … the recent embracement of “research” documenting the critical nature of
the first 3 years of life for brain development although well intentioned greatly
exaggerates the actual scientific data on which policy recommendations have
been based and actually may undermine policies for vulnerable populations.”
(Cichetti & Toth, 2002)
• “There has been a misleading extrapolation of the findings on experience-
expectant development to the entirely different notion that higher quality
psychosocial experiences in the first 2 or 3 years of life will have a much greater
effect than similar experiences later, because the early experiences bring about
a lasting change in brain from people outside the field of neuroscience research)
are misleading and fallacious for several different reasons (Bruer, 1999).”
(Rutter, 2002)
• Books on early childhood development like The Myth and Scientist in the Crib
(Gopnik et al., 1999) take no account of the effects of early trauma, abuse, and
neglect on developing brain anatomy. (Schore, 2001)
Reactions from the Academic Community
http://blogs.kent.ac.uk/parentingculturestudies/files/2011/09/Special-briefing-on-The-Myth.pdf
18. Recognition of over generalization
• “ The success of preschool programs and critical periods for first language
learning have been used – and misused – to suggest that early experience
in general is critical to brain development. (C.A. Nelson, 1999)
• “One example was the over generalization of research on critical periods
that fueled the erroneous conclusion that human brain development is
effectively solidified by the age of 3 years, despite the fact that critical (vs.
sensitive periods) in the maturation of the human brain are the exception
rather than the rule.” (J. Shonkoff 2000)
19. A Sensitive Period for Attachment?
“Sensitive periods can be defined as unique episodes in development when
specific structures or functions be come especially susceptible to particular
experiences in ways that alter their future structure or function.”
“It is doubtful that early attachment security or insecurity influences
subsequent development in a manner resembling a sensitive period.”
“ … initial attachment provides a provisional foundation for the growth of later
psychosocial competencies in the years to come. Subsequent experiences may
build on, or alter, this initial developmental pathway.”
Ross Thompson (2001)
20. Brain Size versus Brain Development
… the human brain has developed to 85 per cent of
its potential at age three (and 90 per cent at age
four). (Allen and Duncan Smith 2008)
By the age of three, a baby’s brain is 80% formed and
his or her experiences before then shape the way the
brain has grown and developed. (Field, 2010)
A key finding is that babies are born with 25 per cent
of their brains developed, and there is then a rapid
period of development so that by the age of 3 their
brains are 80 per cent developed. (Allen,2011) • Fact: By age 3 the human brain has
reached around 85 per cent of its
mature weight (or volume).
1.25/1.5 X 100 = 83
21.
22. Republished in New Scientist 11 January 2014 p.7, where vertical axis is labeled “Sensitivity to learning.”
28. Economic, neurobiological, and behavioral perspectives on building
America’s future workforce
Eric I. Knudsen*†, James J. Heckman‡, Judy L. Cameron§, and Jack P. Shonkoff¶
• Central to these principles are the findings
• that early experiences have a uniquely powerful influence on the development
of cognitive and social skills and on brain architecture and neurochemistry,
• that both skill development and brain maturation are hierarchical processes in
which higher level functions depend on, and build on, lower level functions,
• and that the capacity for change in the foundations of human skill development
and neural circuitry is highest earlier in life and decreases over time.
• These findings lead to the conclusion that the most efficient strategy
for strengthening the future workforce, both economically and
neurobiologically, and improving its quality of life is to invest in the
environments of disadvantaged children during the early childhood
years.
PNAS July 5, 2006 vol. 103 no. 27 10155–10162
29. Sensitive Periods in the Development of the
Brain and Behavior
Eric I. Knudsen (2004) JCNS 16(8):1412 - 1425
• A sensitive period is a time during development during which the
effect of experience on the brain is particularly strong.
• A sensitive period during which experience is essential for normal
development and alters performance permanently is a critical period.
• “Although sensitive periods are reflected in behavior, they are actually
a property of neural circuits.”
• Behavioral analysis tends to underestimate the occurrence of critical
periods.
30. Child Development, January/February 2011, Volume 82, Number 1, Pages 17–32
Science Does Not Speak for Itself: Translating Child Development Research
for the Public and Its Policymakers
Jack P. Shonkoff Susan Nall Bales
Harvard University FrameWorks Institute
“Science has an important role to play in advising policymakers on crafting effective responses
to social problems that affect the development of children. This article describes lessons
learned from a multiyear, working collaboration among neuroscientists, developmental
psychologists, pediatricians, economists, and communications researchers who are engaged in
the iterative construction of a core story of development, using simplifying models
(i.e., metaphors) such as ‘‘brain architecture,’’ ‘‘toxic stress,’’ and ‘‘serve and return’’ to explain
complex scientific concepts to nonscientists.”*
*My italics.
31. FrameWorks Institute
• “The mission of the FrameWorks Institute is to advance the
nonprofit sector's communications capacity by
identifying, translating and modeling relevant scholarly research
for framing the public discourse about social problems.”
• “Understanding which frames serve to advance which policy
options with which groups becomes central to any movement’s
strategy. The literature of social movements suggests that the
prudent choice of frames, and the ability to effectively contest the
opposition’s frames, lie at the heart of successful policy advocacy.”
http://www.frameworksinstitute.org/mission.html
32. FrameWorks Original Simplifying Models
In the course of harvesting research findings from FrameWorks’ work with the
National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (now at Harvard
University’s Center on the Developing Child), we recommended a set of
“Simplifying Models” to help plug these cognitive holes:
• Brain Architecture as a way to capture the material nature of the
developmental foundation;
• Interaction, as a way to elevate the dynamic process between child
and environment; and
• Stress-Related Chemicals in the Brain, as a way to make vivid the
damaging effects of exposure to stress.
33. Since this research was conducted for PCA America in 2003, FrameWorks has tested
all three Simplifying Models in both qualitative and quantitative research and has
improved the latter two models:
Interaction has been updated to Serve and Return, in which the
interactive nature of the child and his environment is equated with a
game of tennis.
Stress-Related Chemicals in the Brain has been expanded to
differentiate between positive, tolerable and toxic stress in order to help
people understand the buffering effects of caring adults and the
deleterious effects of unrelieved exposure.
http://www.frameworksinstitute.org/mission.html
FrameWorks Revised Simplifying Models
34. Science of Early Childhood Development Parenting Matters (2011), C. Paterson, Centre:Forum
Both brain architecture and developing abilities are built “from
the bottom up,” with simple circuits and skills providing the
scaffolding for more advanced circuits and skills over time.
Brain architecture and developing abilities are built from the
bottom up over time.
The interactive influences of genes and experience literally shape
the architecture of the developing brain, and the active ingredient
is the “serve and return” nature of children’s engagement in
relationships with their parents and other caregivers in their
family or community.
The interactive influences of genes and experience shape the
developing brain. (serve and return)
Toxic stress in early childhood is associated with persistent effects
on the nervous system and stress hormone systems that can
damage developing brain architecture and lead to lifelong
problems in learning, behavior, and both physical and mental
health.
Toxic stress damages developing brain architecture.
Plasticity is maximal in early childhood and decreases with age The brain’s capacity for change decreases with age.
35. Criticisms Raised in “The Myth” Still Apply
• Equivocation on “early intervention”
• Examples Perry Preschool Project and Abcedarian Project
• Interventions prior to formal schooling enhance benefits of school attendance
• Interventions are “early” because schooling starts early
• Not evidence for biologically privileged sensitive period
• Higher-level functions build on lower-level functions
• Higher-level = later in development, lower-level = earlier?
• “Skills beget skills”, but (most) skill learning is not developmentally constrained
• Speed and ease of learning depends on prior experience, not necessarily early
experience
• Relations between synaptogenesis, pruning, and skill development remains
unclear
36. Experience-expectant vs Experience-dependent
• Two kinds of brain plasticity (Greenough, Black & Wallace, 1987)
• Experience-expectant
• Limited to developing skills and neural systems that are characteristic of a species (E.g.
vision, audition, first-language learning)
• Stimulation required for normal development are reliably present in any typical species
environment
• Subject to critical or sensitive period constraints (loss of pre-existing synapses?)
• Experience-dependent
• Driven by experiences unique to the individuals and their particular physical, social and
cultural environment
• Allows us to learn from personal experience and store information to guide behavior
• Not subject to critical or sensitive period constraints (formation of new synapses?)
37. 37
MYTH - II
There is only one sort of biological effect
Wrong because there are at least 3 different varieties
i. Experience-expectant effects
(cf Hubel & Weisel expts on binocular vision & development of the
visual cortex)
Termed 'expectant' because in all ordinary circumstances the
necessary experiences will always be available
ii. Experience-adaptive effects
(cf Barker hypothesis re long-term effects of
restrictions in early growth)
Unlike experience-expectant effects, these concern variations
within, as well as outside, the normal range. Termed „adaptive‟
because the body is adapting to the nature of early experience
iii. Experience-dependent effects
(cf the adult experience examples)
Unlike the first two varieties, these are not restricted to any kind
of sensitive period restrictions
epge.fgv.br/childhood/presentations/MICHAEL%20RUTTER.ppt
38. Nature, Nurture, and Development: From Evangelism
through Science toward Policy and Practice
Michael Rutter, Child Development, January/February 2002, Volume 73, Number 1, Pages
1–21
“The last decade or so has been accompanied by a different type of
evangelism—namely, claims on the extent to which early experiences
determine brain development (see, e.g., Kotulak, 1996). There has
been a misleading extrapolation of the findings on experience-
expectant development to the entirely different notion that higher
quality psychosocial experiences in the first 2 or 3 years of life will have
a much greater effect than similar experiences later on, because the
early experiences bring about a lasting change in brain structure.”
40. Neuroscientists also point to the importance of early parenting in the development of the infant brain.35 The
prefrontal cortex, and specifically the orbitofrontal cortex, in the brain is thought to be especially important in
emotional regulation, processing and expressing feelings, reading social cues and behaviour, and working
memory, attention and decision making. Almost all of this area develops after birth. In the first year, a baby’s
brain doubles in weight. Between six and twelve months in particular, there is a burst of brain development
when attachment bonds are made.36 Research suggests that ‘toxic’ levels of stress – defined as ‘prolonged
activation of stress response in the absence of protective relationships’ – can affect the infant’s developing
brain.37 While the first years of brain development are not make-or-break, they have been found to affect the
child’s ongoing brain development in important ways, shaping both their social-emotional, and cognitive
development
41. The foundations of brain architecture, and
subsequent lifelong developmental potential, are
laid down in a child’s early years through a process
that is exquisitely sensitive to external
influence. Early experiences in the home, in other
care settings, and in communities interact
with genes to shape the developing nature and
quality of the brain’s architecture. The
growth and then environmentally based pruning of
neuronal systems in the first years
support a range of early skills, including cognitive
(early language, literacy, math), social
(theory of
mind, empathy, prosocial), persistence, attention, a
nd self-regulation and
executive function skills (the voluntary control of
attention and behavior).2 Later skills—
in schooling and employment—build cumulatively
upon these early skills. Therefore
investment in early learning and development is
more efficient and can generate more
benefits than costs relative to investment later in
the life cycle.3
42. Neuroscience as Background, Behavior as Ground
• Both documents cite the neuroscience of child development in their
opening paragraphs
• No mention or citation of brain science thereafter
• Policy debate on these issues will be about the validity and
generalization of behavioral research – notoriously difficult
• Neuroscience can eventually contribute only after behaviors and
effects of interventions on behaviors are well-defined.
• Neuroscience cannot yield reductive explanations of “non-
phenomena.”
• Neuroscience as background has rhetorical value only.
43. Questions
• Do we persist in extrapolating findings about experience-expectant
plasticity to areas where these results are inapplicable?
• Once we leave the realm of experience-expectant plasticity, what is
normal?
• Are we translating sound science to the public?
• Is framing an appropriate mechanism by which to execute this translation?
• What is the appropriate role of scientists, scholars, and academic
institutions in this translation process?
• If, and when, do the roles of scholar-scientist and advocate conflict?
• What can be done to better integrate development psychology (study of
normal development) with psychiatry (causes of psychopathology)?
44. The Santiago Declaration
www.SantiagoDeclaration.org
We also recognize the limitations of our own scientific disciplines. Our research can
provide guides in designing the most efficient means to a policy ends, but cannot
dictate those ends, which must arise out of political debate and social consensus.
Our research can also be abused in attempts to rationalize pre-conceived policies
and popular notions about early childhood, putting science to a rhetorical and
selective, rather than rational use.
47. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
%MaxSynDensity
Birth 1 yr. 11 yrs.
From P. Huttenlocher 1987
Synaptic growth and pruning (visual and frontal cortex)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
1 10 100
%MaxSynDen/LCRMGlc
Log Years
Huttenlocher/Chugani Data: Frontal Cortex
MFG Syn Den
Frontal LCMRGlc
48. FIGURE 9 Examples of sensitive periods across four aspects of vision. Gray bars represent periods
of normal development, and black bars represent sensitive periods for damage. Ages indicating the
50. Critical periods
Based on Hubel and Wiesel (1970)
Normal Adults Deprivation During
Critical Period
Deprivation After
Critical Period
51. Enriched environments
Turner and Greenough (1985)
… a careful look does not support a selective focus on the 0-3 age range. … The work I
and others have conducted on the effects of housing animals in physically and socially
complex environments similarly emphasizes the continuing plasticity of the brain in
later development and adulthood.
William Greenough, APA Monitor, 1997
52. • Fariña told committee members, “significant growth in
speech, language, and brain development occurs before
kindergarten.”
53.
54.
55.
56. Huttenlocher/Chugani Data: Frontal Cortex
0
20
40
60
80
100
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Years
%MaxSynDen/LCRMGlc
MFG Syn Den
Frontal LCMRGlc
57. 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
%MaxSynDensity
Birth 1 yr. 11 yrs.
Redrawn from P. Huttenlocher 1987
Synaptic growth and pruning (visual cortex)
Critical periods
Enriched environments
Based on Hubel and Wiesel (1970)
Turner and Greenough (1985)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
%MaxSynDensity
Birth 1 yr. 11 yrs.
58.
59. Workers who have studied the development of the brain have found
that to achieve the precision of the adult pattern, neural function is
necessary: the brain must be stimulated in some fashion.
Indeed, several observations during the last few decades have shown
that babies who spent most of their first year of life lying their cribs
develop abnormally slowly.
Based in part on such observations, some people favor
enriched environments for young children, in the hopes of
enhancing development. Yet current studies provide no clear
evidence that such extra stimulation is helpful.
As a first step toward understanding the process, neurobiologists
have focused on the development of the visual system … .
Another physiological fact makes the visual system a productive
object of study: its neurons are essentially the same as neurons
in other parts of the brain.
Carla Shatz: The Developing Brain (1992)
60. Fade Out
"Head Start has benefits for both 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds in the
cognitive, health, and parenting domains, and for 3-year-olds in the
social-emotional domain. However, the benefits of access to Head Start
at age four are largely absent by 1st grade for the program population
as a whole. For 3-year-olds, there are few sustained benefits, although
access to the program may lead to improved parent-child relationships
through 1st grade, a potentially important finding for children's longer
term development.“
Weigel, Margaret (August 11, 2011). "Head Start Impact: Department of Health and Human Services
Report".
61. Brain-based Explanation for Fade-Out
Children enter Head Start at age 3, after the critical first three years of
brain development are over. Thus, the Head Start experiences occur
too late in life to fundamentally and permanently rewire the children’s
brains.
62. 1st Wave (1994 – 2000): Strength of Claims
• Strongly deterministic
• “By the age of ten, your brain is cooked.” (Reiner)
• Early experiences are so powerful …"they can completely change the way a person turns out.” (H.
Chugani)
• … "critical periods … are windows of opportunity that nature flings open, starting before
birth, and then slams shut, one by one, with every additional candle on the child's birthday cake.”
(Begley)
• Critical periods in development
• Narrow and rigid interpretation of critical periods
• Closed by endogenous causes
• Birth to three is the critical period for brain development
65. 3rd Wave (2010 – ) : Strength of Claims
• Guarded Determinism
• “Although ‘windows of opportunity’ for language and skill development and behavioural
adaptation remain open for many years, trying to change behaviour or build new skills on a
foundation of brain circuits that were not wired properly when they were first formed is
much harder and requires more intensive effort.”
• The brain’s capacity for change decreases with age.
• Sensitive periods
• The term ‘critical period’ does not appear.
• “Brain architecture is built over a succession of ‘sensitive periods’, each of which is
associated with the formation of specific circuits that are associated with specific abilities.”
66. 3rd Wave (2010 – ): Power of metaphor
Relies on neuroscience to provide a materialistic/mechanistic explanation of
learning, development, and mental illness.
However, language has become figurative: Metaphors are used to explain the
implications of neuroscience to a lay audience.
Brain architecture
Serve and return
Toxic stress
Where did this metaphoric language come from?
69. A Lingering Neuromyth?
The infant brain has more brain cells (neurons) and more connections
(synapses) than the adult brain, and this means that it is more
‘plastic’, that is, more responsive to experience, including formal and
informal instruction, than later on. As a consequence, learning new
material appears to be easier earlier than later.
-- Butterworth and Varma (2013) in Educational Neuroscience
70. Do children learn more quickly and efficiently
during the period of high synaptic density than
after synaptic pruning occurs?
Everything or certain kinds of things?
Are the certain kinds of learning relevant to
education, remediation, therapy?
72. Summary and Issues
• Strength of claims – from hard determinism to softer determinism
• Language – literal but over-simplified to models and metaphors
• Persistent themes
• Materialist, mechanistic explanations throughout
• Affinity for attachment theory and purported neural underpinnings
• Underlying neuroscience carefully chosen
• Not much advance in the neuroscientific bases for claims.
73. Summary and Issues
• Source
• 1st wave:
• from advocates outside the academy (with active assistance of some academic
scientists)
• Advocates oversimplifying science
• 3rd wave:
• from academy (with active assistance of experts on advocacy)
• Scientists oversimplifying science
74. Questions
• To what extent is the brain early childhood campaign like and unlike
other public health campaigns? (smoking, avian
flu, immunization, breast feeding)?
• Depth and strength of underlying science
• Link between the science and proposed policy
• Extent of social agreement on the policy end apart from the science
• Is translation of science into policy an important academic endeavor in
its own right?
• Is “framing” an appropriate way to translate science for nonscientists?
• When do the roles of scientist-scholar and advocate conflict?
• If so what are the academic community’s responsibilities in conducting
and reviewing such translations?
Editor's Notes
The Decade of the Brain was a designation for 1990-1999 by U.S. president George H. W. Bush as part of a larger effort involving the Library of Congress and the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health "to enhance public awareness of the benefits to be derived from brainresearch".
This first wave expounded and popularized what I characterized as The Myth of the First Three Years and which I criticized .I go into greater detail about how the cited neuroscience does not support in the myth in the paper posted on the conference web site. But that argument is summarized here.Rapid synapse formation occurs in various parts of the human brain at various times earlyin development. Synaptic densities far exceed adult levelsuntil the age of puberty, when synapse elimination occurs. This process is much more under genetic than environmental controlThis period of high synpatic density does not coincide with any critical period we know about. Certainly learning, in general, is not more efficient or easy at the time of high synpatic density.There are numerous critical periods in development – many such periods within the visual system alone – associated with specific visual functions. The specific neural circuits underlying these critical periods and visual functions are not known in any detail.Environmental enrichment on rats is actually raising rats in laboratory analogs of natural environments rather than under usual laboratory conditions. Such natural environments have effects on rodent brain structure throughout life. We should not generalize from these rodent experiments to humans and conditions of child rearing.
This first wave expounded and popularized what I characterized as The Myth of the First Three Years and which I criticized .I go into greater detail about how the cited neuroscience does not support in the myth in the paper posted on the conference web site. But that argument is summarized here.Rapid synapse formation occurs in various parts of the human brain at various times earlyin development. Synaptic densities far exceed adult levelsuntil the age of puberty, when synapse elimination occurs. This process is much more under genetic than environmental controlThis period of high synpatic density does not coincide with any critical period we know about. Certainly learning, in general, is not more efficient or easy at the time of high synpatic density.There are numerous critical periods in development – many such periods within the visual system alone – associated with specific visual functions. The specific neural circuits underlying these critical periods and visual functions are not known in any detail.Environmental enrichment on rats is actually raising rats in laboratory analogs of natural environments rather than under usual laboratory conditions. Such natural environments have effects on rodent brain structure throughout life. We should not generalize from these rodent experiments to humans and conditions of child rearing.
The Myth provides a basis for critical appraisal of the brain and early intervention literature that is still relevant.
Authors acknowledged over generalization.
One characteristic of the brain and early intervention literature is that it tends to make similar claims over and over, usually relying on First Wave documents and commentaries. Also, in some of these policy reports there is a carelessness about or looseness with facts about brain development.For example, the Allen-Duncan Smith report claims that the brain has developed to 85% of its potential by age 3; the Field report says the baby’s brain is 80% formed by age 3; and the Allen report says that be age 3 children’s brains are 80 percent developed. The fact about brain growth is shown in the graph on the right. Mature brain weight is approx. 1.5 kilos. At age 3 average brain weight is around 1.25 kilos (as indicated by the red arrow) and 1.25 is 83 percent of 1.5.However, brain weight or volume present at best physical measurements of the brain. Such measurements say nothing about the state of brain structure or brain function. From this fact, nothing follows about the brain’s potential and functional development, unless one can tell a story about how brain weight correlates or causes brain function or development.
This slide appears in Allen & Duncan Smith (2008): Early intervention: Good Parents, Great Kids, Better Citizens. I found around a dozen lectures posted on the web that used this slide. The original source for the slide is Dr. Bruce Perry and can be found on the Child Trauma Academy website. It shows a purported mismatch between public spending over the first 20 years (black line) and brain’s capacity for change over the first 20 years (red line). The red line showing the brain’s capacity for change is not based on any scientific measurement. There is nothing one could measure to get this curve (well one thing brain weight/body weight x 100).Rather the red line expresses a conviction that brain plasticity decreases following a negative exponential over the life span. As an image, it makes a compelling rhetorical point. However, it does not report a scientific finding, supported by data. This slide is not based on data; it is a cartoon. Will see it again later.I asked a neuroscientist who used this slide in one of his talks what the red line was. The answer: “As for the slide, as you know, there would not be one single measure of brain change; it is a conceptual summary to indicate that based on critical and sensitive period data in sensory systems, language, fetal programming, epigenetic influences shown in specific systems, experience-dependent plasticity goes down over a lifetime.”Second wave literature is a little further away from the original science that was First wave literature
No citations.
Many of the criticisms of The Myth still apply.The article tells a story about how selected neuroscience might support a policy end.Recognizes multiple sensitive periodsNo clear distinction between experience expectant and experience dependent plasticity.Article leads with school based projectsTransitions to attachment theory, then second language learning, then visual deprivation.Minimizes behavioral and neural plasticity over the life spanHighly simplistic (Skills beget skills)Highly reductive , overstating what we know about how circuits and synapses support behavior and confident in the relevance of animal models to human development and learningDevoid of cognitive psychology, developmental psychologyConcerned with when rather than what
Source of the metaphorsThis article describes a seven year collaboration between academic scientists and communications experts to “frame” a story based on neuroscience that would help advance applications of neuroscience and psychology to early childhood programs, but more importantly to elicit and facilitate political action to a establish these programs.The scientists, the article says, are committed to developing a message that is true to the science (at least as they interpret it).The process began with scientists involved the MacArthur Research Network on Early Experience and Brain Development. This self-selected group became the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. Building on the Council’s translation of basic developmental concepts (e.g., notions of sensitive periods and decreasing neuroplasticity over time) to explain why investments in vulnerable young children can generate strong returns to society, the Forum was designed to answer the what, when, and for whom questions about effective programs.This group was committed to incorporating communications expertise and established a partnership with the Frameworks Institute a Washington based think tank that studies the cultural models that people bring to their understanding of science.Strategic Frame Analysis, as developed by the FrameWorks Institute, integrates essential constructs from the cognitive and social sciences intothe study and practice of communications. It relies upon an iterative, multimethod, empirical process to: (a) identify cultural models that people use consistently to reason about a particular issue, (b) compare and contrast these models to the content of expert thinking on that issue, and (c) develop and empirically test powerful frame cues (such as values and metaphors) for their ability to align lay judgments and solutions more closely with expert thinking (Bales & Gilliam, 2004, 2009; Gilliam & Bales, 2001).
Clearly in the realm of policy advocacy – framing or spinning?
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Third wave documents turn directly to academic institutions for the source of their material and science.Most prominent of these is the Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University.
Characteristics – strength of first wave claims
Cover includes iconic brain images produced by Bruce Perry, presented by Perry & Reiner to National Association of Governors in the 1990s (These reports rely heavily on Perry’s materialOutlier in Perry’s data)Little direct academic involvement in preparation of report – rewrite and rehash of 1st wave documents
As much about psychiatry as they are about neuroscience. Trend to over-estimate what is known about relationship of psychiatry and brain science.
Accompanied by increased scholarly-scientific activity.Integrate economics with neuroscience and child development – James Heckman and colleaguesAbove slide highly reminiscent of Bruce Perry slide showing decay of brain plasticity, but now rate of return to human capital investment.Claimed that this graph summarizes the empirical literature on effectiveness/ cost effectiveness of early vs later intervention. Cunha-Heckman model assumes this summary is accurate. Does not provide independent theory to account for success of early intervention.