CGSC 1001Mysteries of the Mind

by Jim Daviesjim@jimdavies.org

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There are some interesting theories, but the scientific evidence that people have different learning styles is weak. • Pashler, H.; McDaniel, M.; Rohrer, D.; Bjork, R. (2009).

"Learning styles: Concepts and evidence". Psychological Science in the Public Interest 9: 105–119.

What this means is that some students and teachers are bad at learning and teaching, but it’s not a function of the mode of presentation that’s making the difference in grades.

Never use your perceived “learning style” as an excuse for not doing well in school.

http://youtu.be/sIv9rz2NTUk (Daniel Willingham, Learning Styles Don’t Exist 7

minutes)2

Students who take notes by hand remember more than students who take notes on computers.

Why? The theory is that people type too much on the computer, and when people write by hand they are forced to process it and summarize. This leads to deeper processing.

Also, you are more easily distracted by the web if you have a computer on.

In my class, if you’re going to do something other than paying attention, please sit at the back.

Process your notes later with flashcards.

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People can’t do it.• Willingham, Daniel T. (2010), "Have Technology

and Multitasking Rewired How Students Learn?",

Ask the Cognitive Scientist, American

Educator (Summer): 23–28, 42.

So don’t listen to music, watch videos, or

sit where you can hear or see people are

talking or walking by.

If feels like you can do it, but your

performance drops.

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If you’re spending fewer than 20 hours per week studying outside of class, you should not be complaining about your marks.• “Studying” means reading, writing, drilling,

discussing, etc. for the purpose of academic achievement.

Most students do not study enough. You cannot use your peers to set an example for yourself.

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The key to success is structuring your time.At the start of the day, get out a piece of

paper, or a spreadsheet, and mark off every half hour.

Look at your to-do list and fill in the half hours.

Stick to them throughout the day, revising if necessary.

You’ll be happier and less stressed if you schedule your fun time, too.• Hsee, C. K., Yang, A. X., & Wang, L. (2010). Idleness

aversion and the need for justifiable busyness. Psychological Science, 21(7), 926-930.

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Time To-do Suggestion

11:30 lunch lunch

12:00 noon Work on Sociology paper

12:30 Study for Biology quiz

1:00 Read novel

1:30 Anki Anki

2:00 Nap nap

2:30 Get books out of library

Suggestions are for things you tend to do at the same time every day, such as

exercise. First go to your calendar and put in previously scheduled things, such

as classes. Dedicate the appropriate number of half hours for the task you are

doing. Aside from computer programming, I only spend one half an hour of

continuous time per task. If it’s important enough, I do another half hour later.

Studies show that scheduling your leisure time is good for you too.

There are skills you need to learn (e.g., how to apply equations, how to write), but there are a lot of things you just need to memorize, particularly in your first two years of university.

Flash cards are great because:• Guessing an answer (even if you’re wrong) before

you see the right answer facilitates memory more than not guessing

• Testing helps memory a lot.

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Download at: http://ankisrs.net/

Open Source Flash Card SRS system• Open source means that the program code is freely

available for anyone to download or change

Study in more than one place

Take a walk before studying (Salas et al,

2011)

Memorize just before napping or bedtime• A nap at 2 is great, if you can pull if off.

• Napping after study improves memory retention.

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10

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“front” (question)

“back” (answer)

Did you get it right?

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students who went for a walk before the

study period recalled 25 per cent more

words correctly compared with

students who sat still before the study

period.• http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-a-walk-improve-

your-memory

So walk, study, sleep, repeat.

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Writing is key to thinking clearly.

Writing is probably the most important skill

you can learn in university.

Favour classes that require you to write a

lot.

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It’s better to study in lots of places, so

increase retention in multiple

environments.

If you’re only interested in getting good

grades, study for this class only in the

exam room (not recommended).

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Sleep is necessary for encoding long-term

memories. All-nighters waste your time.

When awake, your brain is active. When

you sleep, you prune connections to make

your mind more efficient.

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Adults with Learning Disabilities

and Effective Study Habits

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Jessie Gunnell, Disabilities Coordinator & Learning Strategist

Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities

1. Understand the conceptual model of a

learning disability

2. Understand how a disability may

impact academics

3. Identify strategies that could help

address LD related academic

challenges.

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1. Theories into practice • Documentation requirements

2. Theories of LD• Patterns of strengths and weaknesses

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Psychoeducational assessment: Completed by clinical psychologist assessing

cognitive and academic skills

Demonstrates a pattern of discrepancies

(http://www1.carleton.ca/pmc/ccms/wp-content/ccms-files/LD-requirements-2013.pdf )

Percentiles (Strauss et al., 2006): Scale of 1 – 99

Compares to a segment of the norming sample

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Unexpected academic underachievement

Affects a specific psychological process

Specific impairments are:

Associated with dysfunction of the brain

Present since birth

Not primarily explained by cultural, psychosocial,

psychiatric factors or lack of educational opportunity

Distinct from global intellectual impairments

No academic improvement after intervention

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(Flanagan, Fiorello, & Ortiz, 2010; Harrison & Holmes, 2012; Mapou, 2009;

Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, 2002 ).

General Population:

• 2.5% of adults age 15+

(Statistics Canada, 2006)

Paul Menton Centre:

• 29% of students identify their

primary disability as a learning

disability.

Carleton University

• 1.85% population is registered

with PMC with an LD

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LD29%

Mental Health

24%

ADHD19%

Medical13%

Mobility5%

Autism Spectrum

4%

Head Trauma

3%

Hearing2%

Vision1%

Other0%

PMC Disability Data 2013-2014

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Overall

cognitive ability

Academic

Achievement

Strength

Weakness

Model adapted from: Flanagan, Fiorello, & Ortiz, (2010).

Specific

Cognitive

WeaknessConsistent

1

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• Reading:

• Word recognition/phonology (dyslexia), fluency, comprehension

• Math:

• Problem-solving, accuracy (computations), fluency

• Written language:

• Handwriting, spelling, fluency, written expression (i.e. organization/flow of ideas)

• Oral language:

• Expressive or receptive

25(Flanagan & Harrison, 2012; Gregg, 2009; Mapou, 2009)

Specific Cognitive Weaknesses:

• Visual Processing• Generating, storing, or retrieving images

• Auditory Processing• Processing sounds

• Working Memory• Manipulating information

• Processing speed• Performing simple tasks quickly

26(Flanagan & Harrison, 2012; Gregg, 2009; Mapou, 2009)

Essential features:

1. Average to above-average intelligence

2. A specific academic weakness

3. A specific cognitive processing

weakness

4. There is a meaningful relationship

between the cognitive deficit and the

academic deficit.

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(Harrison & Holmes, 2012; Flanagan, Fiorello, & Ortiz, 2010).

Reading: • Word recognition/phonology (dyslexia),

• Fluency

• Comprehension

28(Flanagan, Ortiz, & Alfonso, 2013; Mapou, 2009)

Overall

cognitive

ability

Word

readingAuditory

ProcessingConsistent

• A Spoonerism is where you have two words and

you swap over the beginning sounds of each word

to make two new words or pseudowords. For

example, the words RED/PEN become PED/REN.

Can you hear what I've done? I've taken the /r/

sound from RED and the /p/ sound from PEN and

swapped them around to produce PED/REN.

29(Brunswick, McCrory, Price, Frith & Frith, 1999)

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1. Learning Strategies

2. Metacognition

3. Technology

Learning Strategies • Developing strategies that make learning more

efficient

• Example Area:• Notetaking

• Reading

• Time management

• Test taking

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• Metacognition is the “ability to consciously and deliberately monitor and regulate ones knowledge, processes, and cognitive and affective states” (Holschub & Aultman, 2009; p. 121)

• Cognitive process “is one in which mental contents are operated on in order to produce some response” (Beal et al., 2013: p 445).

• Self-regulated learning: planning and monitoring, testing, revising and evaluating strategies employed when learning and reading

• Affective states is managing emotions (e.g., anxiety and worry)

• Cognitive states is managing internal (e.g., thoughts) and external distractions (e.g., sustaining focus despite external noises)

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Assistive Technology:

1. Text-to-Speech & Speech-to-Text http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOG_Si2Y2SU

2. Notetakinghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFCeqSggo

2Y

3.Mindmapping

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• Why do you take lecture notes?

• Do you take notes by hand, electronically or a

combination of both? What reason did you have for

selecting your notetaking method?

• Do you review your lecture notes before and/or

after class?

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Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities501 University CentreTelephone: 613.520.6608TTY: 613.520.3937 Website: http://www1.carleton.ca/pmc/

Email:• pmc@carleton.ca• Volunteer.notaking@carleton.ca

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Gregg, N., (2009). Adolescents and Adults with Learning Disabilities. New York:

Guilford Publications

Beal, L., Willis, O., & Dumont, R. (2013). Psychological Testing by Models of Cognitive

Ability (445-473). D. H. Saklofske, C.R. Reynolds, & V. Schwean. The Oxford

Handbook of Child Psychological Assessment. Published by Oxford Handbooks

Online.

Brunswick, N., McCrory, E., Prince, C.J, Frith, C.D. & Frith, U. (1999). Explicit and

implicit processing of words and pseudowords by adult developmental dyslexics: A

search for Wernicke’s Wortschatz? Brain, 122, 1901-1917.

Harrison, A. & Holmes, A. (2012). Easier said than done: Operationalizing the

diagnosis of learning disabilities for use at the postsecondary level in Canada.

Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 27, 12-34.

Holschub, J.P. & Aultman, P., (2009). Comprehension Development. In R. F Flippo &

D. C. Caverley (Eds.), Handbook of college reading and study strategy research (121-

144). New York: Taylor and Francis.

Flanagan, D.P. & Harrison, P.L. (Eds.). (2012). Contemporary Intellectual

Assessment.

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Katz, L.J., Goldstein, G., & Beers, S.R. (2001). Learning Disabilities in Older

Adolescence and Adults. New York: Kluwer Academic

Flanagan, D. P., Fiorello, C. E., & Ortiz, S. (2010). Enhancing practice through

application of Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory and research: A “third method” approach to

specific learning disability identification. Psychology in that Schools, 47 (7), 739-760.

Statistics Canada. Participation and Activity Limitation Survey 2006: Tables. Ottawa:

Statistics Canada, 2007 (Cat. No. 89-628-XIE - No. 003).

http://www4.hrsdc.gc.ca/.3ndic.1t.4r@-eng.jsp?iid=40

Mapou, R. & Stixrud, W. (2008). Assessment of learning disabilities and attention-deficit

hyperactivity disorder in adults. Presentation at: International Neuropsychological Society

36th annual meeting, Waikoloa, Hawaii

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