The Guardian: Playing Mozart and Beethoven to young children improves their listening skills, concentration and self-discipline, according to a study this week by the Institute of Education. The study was an evaluation of a programme for primary schools in the London boroughs of Hackney and Tower Hamlets. Some teachers credited More
Scientific American: Young American students take a variety of standardized tests. But the ways that students are educated so that they’ll do well on such tests presents a problem. The preparation increases what’s called crystallized knowledge: that’s factual information, such as ‘the capital of Texas is Austin.’ But the tests More
The Washington Post: In a finding that should give pause to backers of standardized test-based school reform, a new study by neuroscientists at three major universities shows that students who achieved the highest gains on standardized tests did not show the same gains in the ability to analyze material and think logically. The More
Schools whose students have the highest gains on standardized test scores do not produce similar gains in tests that measure abstract and logical thinking, a data analysis shows. More
C. Nathan DeWall, University of Kentucky, and renowned textbook author and APS Fellow David G. Myers, Hope College, have teamed up to create a series of Observer columns aimed at integrating cutting-edge psychological science into the classroom. Each column will offer advice and how-to guidance about teaching a particular area More
Scientific American: One of the longest standing assumptions about the nature of human intelligence has just been seriously challenged. According to the traditional “investment” theory, intelligence can be classified into two main categories: fluid and crystallized. Differences in fluid intelligence are thought to reflect novel, on-the-spot reasoning, whereas differences in crystallized More
