Self-Regulation, Creativity, and Problem-Solving Through Play
211
To Improve Self- Regulation, Creativity and Problem-Solving: Let Children Play! Adele Diamond, PhD, FRSC Canada Research Chair Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Dept. of Psychiatry, UBC
Transcript of Self-Regulation, Creativity, and Problem-Solving Through Play
To Improve Self-Regulation Creativity and Problem-Solving
Let Children PlayAdele Diamond PhD FRSC
Canada Research Chair Professor of Developmental Cognitive
Neuroscience Dept of Psychiatry UBC
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive are being cut from school curri-cula and from childrenrsquos lives
Some of the most important skills
both for HAPPINESS and for SUCCESS
in school and in life areEXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS
Almost all of thosecan be
learned practiced and improved
through PLAY
While training and challenging EFs is needed for them to improve
that alone is probably not enough to achieve the best results
I predict that the activities that will most successfully improve
Executive Functions
the VERY BEST activities for improving Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair executive functions (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
PLAY does exactly that Besides directly
training amp challenging executive functions
PLAY also nourishes ussocially emotionally and
physically
Whatrsquos the evidence
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
3 Cognitive Flexibility
The 3 core Executive Functions
InhibitoryControl
involves resisting a strong inclination to
do one thing
and instead do what is most appropriate
or needed
InhibitoryControl
includes
Focused Attention and
Self-Control
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive are being cut from school curri-cula and from childrenrsquos lives
Some of the most important skills
both for HAPPINESS and for SUCCESS
in school and in life areEXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS
Almost all of thosecan be
learned practiced and improved
through PLAY
While training and challenging EFs is needed for them to improve
that alone is probably not enough to achieve the best results
I predict that the activities that will most successfully improve
Executive Functions
the VERY BEST activities for improving Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair executive functions (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
PLAY does exactly that Besides directly
training amp challenging executive functions
PLAY also nourishes ussocially emotionally and
physically
Whatrsquos the evidence
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
3 Cognitive Flexibility
The 3 core Executive Functions
InhibitoryControl
involves resisting a strong inclination to
do one thing
and instead do what is most appropriate
or needed
InhibitoryControl
includes
Focused Attention and
Self-Control
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Some of the most important skills
both for HAPPINESS and for SUCCESS
in school and in life areEXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS
Almost all of thosecan be
learned practiced and improved
through PLAY
While training and challenging EFs is needed for them to improve
that alone is probably not enough to achieve the best results
I predict that the activities that will most successfully improve
Executive Functions
the VERY BEST activities for improving Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair executive functions (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
PLAY does exactly that Besides directly
training amp challenging executive functions
PLAY also nourishes ussocially emotionally and
physically
Whatrsquos the evidence
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
3 Cognitive Flexibility
The 3 core Executive Functions
InhibitoryControl
involves resisting a strong inclination to
do one thing
and instead do what is most appropriate
or needed
InhibitoryControl
includes
Focused Attention and
Self-Control
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Almost all of thosecan be
learned practiced and improved
through PLAY
While training and challenging EFs is needed for them to improve
that alone is probably not enough to achieve the best results
I predict that the activities that will most successfully improve
Executive Functions
the VERY BEST activities for improving Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair executive functions (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
PLAY does exactly that Besides directly
training amp challenging executive functions
PLAY also nourishes ussocially emotionally and
physically
Whatrsquos the evidence
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
3 Cognitive Flexibility
The 3 core Executive Functions
InhibitoryControl
involves resisting a strong inclination to
do one thing
and instead do what is most appropriate
or needed
InhibitoryControl
includes
Focused Attention and
Self-Control
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
While training and challenging EFs is needed for them to improve
that alone is probably not enough to achieve the best results
I predict that the activities that will most successfully improve
Executive Functions
the VERY BEST activities for improving Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair executive functions (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
PLAY does exactly that Besides directly
training amp challenging executive functions
PLAY also nourishes ussocially emotionally and
physically
Whatrsquos the evidence
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
3 Cognitive Flexibility
The 3 core Executive Functions
InhibitoryControl
involves resisting a strong inclination to
do one thing
and instead do what is most appropriate
or needed
InhibitoryControl
includes
Focused Attention and
Self-Control
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
I predict that the activities that will most successfully improve
Executive Functions
the VERY BEST activities for improving Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair executive functions (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
PLAY does exactly that Besides directly
training amp challenging executive functions
PLAY also nourishes ussocially emotionally and
physically
Whatrsquos the evidence
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
3 Cognitive Flexibility
The 3 core Executive Functions
InhibitoryControl
involves resisting a strong inclination to
do one thing
and instead do what is most appropriate
or needed
InhibitoryControl
includes
Focused Attention and
Self-Control
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair executive functions (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
PLAY does exactly that Besides directly
training amp challenging executive functions
PLAY also nourishes ussocially emotionally and
physically
Whatrsquos the evidence
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
3 Cognitive Flexibility
The 3 core Executive Functions
InhibitoryControl
involves resisting a strong inclination to
do one thing
and instead do what is most appropriate
or needed
InhibitoryControl
includes
Focused Attention and
Self-Control
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair executive functions (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
PLAY does exactly that Besides directly
training amp challenging executive functions
PLAY also nourishes ussocially emotionally and
physically
Whatrsquos the evidence
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
3 Cognitive Flexibility
The 3 core Executive Functions
InhibitoryControl
involves resisting a strong inclination to
do one thing
and instead do what is most appropriate
or needed
InhibitoryControl
includes
Focused Attention and
Self-Control
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
PLAY does exactly that Besides directly
training amp challenging executive functions
PLAY also nourishes ussocially emotionally and
physically
Whatrsquos the evidence
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
3 Cognitive Flexibility
The 3 core Executive Functions
InhibitoryControl
involves resisting a strong inclination to
do one thing
and instead do what is most appropriate
or needed
InhibitoryControl
includes
Focused Attention and
Self-Control
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Whatrsquos the evidence
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
3 Cognitive Flexibility
The 3 core Executive Functions
InhibitoryControl
involves resisting a strong inclination to
do one thing
and instead do what is most appropriate
or needed
InhibitoryControl
includes
Focused Attention and
Self-Control
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
3 Cognitive Flexibility
The 3 core Executive Functions
InhibitoryControl
involves resisting a strong inclination to
do one thing
and instead do what is most appropriate
or needed
InhibitoryControl
includes
Focused Attention and
Self-Control
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
InhibitoryControl
involves resisting a strong inclination to
do one thing
and instead do what is most appropriate
or needed
InhibitoryControl
includes
Focused Attention and
Self-Control
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
InhibitoryControl
includes
Focused Attention and
Self-Control
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Focused Attention
Inhibitory control at the level of
attention
Self-Control Inhibitory control
at the level of behavior
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
FOCUSED ATTENTION
bull Screening out distractions
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Being able to concentrate
and bull stay focused
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
An activity for 1 to 20 persons of ANY and ALL ages (3 or older)Everyone (even the grown-ups) gets a bell and walks in a line or a circle The goal is for no onersquos bell to make a sound
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
FOCUSED ATTENTION
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
FOCUSED ATTENTION
Example Singing a song as a Round
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
We tend to underestimate how capable young children really are Next yoursquoll see 3-year-old displaying truly outstanding perseverance amp focused attention (despite lots of distraction all around him)
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Focused Attention
Therersquos Inhibitory control at the level of attention
Inhibitory control at the level of behavior Self-Control
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
SELF-CONTROL
resisting temptations not acting impulsively thinking before you speak or act
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Examples of when you need SELF-CONTROL
bull wait your turn raise your hand donrsquot grab another childrsquos toy donrsquot pee in your pants
bull resist hurting someone just because that person hurt you (cycle of lsquotit for tatrsquo)
bull donrsquot blurt out the 1st thing that comes to mind
bull resist acting in the heat of the moment (donrsquot press lsquosendrsquo right away)
bull resist jumping to a conclusion of what something must have meant or why it was done
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Discipline amp Perseveranceresisting the many temptations to quit and
not finish what you startedto keep working at it despite
boredom initial failure setbacks difficulties
or more fun things calling
continuing to work though the reward may be a long time in coming (delaying gratification)
requires Self-Control
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Evidence shows that discipline accounts for over
twice as much variation in final grades as does IQ
even in college(Duckworth amp Seligman 2005)
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Self-control saves us from putting our foot in our mouth or making a social faux pasThink of all the trouble you would get in if you blurted out the first thing that came to mind grabbed whatever you wanted without
asking or paying or did other socially inappropriate or hurtful
things If we want to change
if we want to mend our ways we need self-control
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
There are many ways we can help children succeed
despite having weakinhibitory control
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Young children are often capable of responding correctly -- if some way can be found to cause them to delay responding for just a few moments
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
THE DAY-NIGHT TASK
ldquoDayrdquo ldquoNightrdquo
Semantically conflicting labels
(Gerstadt Hong amp Diamond 1994)
Requires holding 2 rules in mind and inhibiting saying what the images really represent saying the opposite instead
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Experimenter sings a little ditty think about the answer donrsquot tell me
before the child responds
Imposes time between presentation of stimulus and when a child can respond
DITTY
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
8 9
5 6
0
20
40
60
80
100
Song Standard
Percentage of Correct Responses by 4-Year-Old Children on the Song and Standard
Conditions of the Day-Night TaskPe
rcen
t Cor
rect
Chance
~ 90
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
VIDEOVIDEO
>
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
In the PATHS program children are taught that when they get upset they should stop and hold themselves tightly with arms crossed (like a Turtle gets into its shell) and take a deep breath This is brilliant It imposes a short waiting period AND during that period it has children do things that reduce arousal amp help them to calm down
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
1 Inhibitory Control
2 Working Memory
The 3 core Executive Functions
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Working Memory
Holding information
in mind to work or play with it
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Working Memory is absolutely critical for REASONING and forCREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING for those require holding ideas and information in mind and playing with them relating one to another re-ordering priorities and more
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Working memory is critical for making sense of anything that unfolds over time for that always requires holding in mind what happened earlier and relating that to what is happening now
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Challenge childrenrsquos Working Memory so it improves (eg w Storytelling)
EFs need to be continually challenged to see improvements -
not just used but challenged
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Irsquom a huge fan of Storytelling
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Storytelling requires and invites a childrsquos rapt attention for extended periods (sustained focused attention) and working memory to hold in mind all thatrsquos happened so far different charactersrsquo identities story details and to relate that to the new info being revealed ndash without visual aids
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
A researcher (Gallets 2005) randomly assigned children in Kindergarten amp Grade 1 to storytelling or story-reading -- 2x a week for 12 weeks
Vocabulary and recall improved more in the children assigned to STORYTELLING than in children assigned to story-reading
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Vocabulary assessed at age 3 strongly predicts reading
comprehension at 9-10 years of age
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
The more interaction between an adult reading or telling a story and the child the more vocabulary improves
The conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have even more benefit than the reading itself
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
REFERENCES forThe conversation that takes place in the context of reading seems to have more benefit than the reading itself
Walsh BA amp Blewitt P (2006) The effect of questioning style during storybook reading on novel vocabulary acquisition of preschoolers Early Childhood Education J 33 273-278
Seacuteneacutechal M Thomas E amp Monker J (1995) Individual differences in 4-year-old childrens acquisition of vocabulary during storybook reading J of Ed Psychology 87 218-229
Kertoy MK (1994) Adult interactive strategies and the spontaneous comments of preschoolers during joint storybook readings Journal of Research in Childhood Education 9 58-67
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Maybe one reason is that when you are reading to or with a child you are looking down at the page at least part of the time
But when you are telling a story you are looking directly at the children amp interacting more
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
While Story-reading is wonderful
I predict that Storytelling should improveattention and working memory more because it taxes them more
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
A fun game for practicing and
improving Working Memory
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
When you see a circle do this (Hold your hands up)
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
What should you do when you see this
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
When you see a square do this
(Hold your arms out with your palms up)
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
What should you do when you see this
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
What should you do when you see this
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
When you see a triangle do this
(Put your hand to your chest in a fist)
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
What should you do when you see this
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
and this
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
and this
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
and this
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
GREAT Now you are ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
You can add demands on Inhibitory Control and
Cognitive Flexibility by
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Changing the mappings
for example
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
When you see a circle clap your hands once
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
When you see a square do this
(Put one hand in front of you with the palm facing up make a fist with your other hand and place it on the palm with the pinky down and thumb on top)
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
When you see a triangle do this (Salute)
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Now yoursquore ready to play for real
Make the movement that goes with shape the arrow is pointing to
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Non-verbal signs and symbols aid
comprehension and memory
Cognitive Flexibility
involves being able to
see an issue from different perspectives
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Cognitive Flexibility
involves being able to
see an issue from different perspectives
think about something in a whole new way (ldquothinking outside the boxrdquo)
seamlessly adjust to change or unexpected situations
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Cognitive Flexibility also includes having the FLEXIBILITYhellip
bull hellipto take advantage of a sudden opportunity (serendipity)
bull hellipto change course when needs change
bull hellipto get to your desired goal despite unexpected obstacles seeming to block the way
bull hellipto admit you were wrong when you get o more information
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
When one door closes another door opens
but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door
that we do not see the ones which open for us
- Alexander Graham Bell
An example of poor cognitive flexibility
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
If therersquos a problem that we havenrsquot been able to solve can you lsquothink outside the boxrsquo tohellip
hellipconceive of the problem frame the problem in a new way
hellip come up with a completely different way of attacking it
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
If you always dowhat you always did
yoursquoll always getwhat you always got
- Einstein
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
For example What unusual uses can you think of for a TABLE
Can you creatively see the same thing from different
perspectives
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
You could hide under itTurned it on its side to keep a door closedTurn it upside down to play horseshoesUse it as a percussion instrumentCut it up for firewood
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
The 3 core Executive Functions arebull Inhibitory Control bull Working Memorybull Cognitive Flexibility Higher-order Executive Functions arebull Problem-solvingbull Reasoning bull Planning
= Fluid Intelligence
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for developing executive function skills in very young children It is emphasized in Tools of the Mind
Children must plan who they want to be in a pretend scenario and the teacher holds them accountable for following through
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
bull flexibly adjust to twists and turns in the evolving plot (cognitive flexibility)
-- all three of the core executive functions thus get exercise
bull During social pretend play children must hold their own role and those of others in mind (working memory)
bull inhibit acting out of character (employ inhibitory control) and
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
The Importance of hellipAction for Learning hellipLearn through Doingat any age but especially for young children
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Hands-on LearningWe evolved to be able to learn to help us act to help us do what we needed to do If information is not relevant for action we donrsquot pay attention in the same way (hence the difference in route memory for the driver versus the passenger of a car) You learn something when you NEED it for something you want to DO ndash when you need it for a problem you want to solve
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
(My son teaching me to program the VCR) The same is true when we teach children in school They need opportunities to concretely apply what they are taught
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
ldquoThe act teaches us the meaning of the actrdquo
- Abraham Heschel
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Young childrenrsquos learning needs to be active and hands onMany concepts can and should be introduced visually and tactilely before they are introduced using language It helps a great deal to give children experiences with concepts first before attaching verbal labels to them
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
For example by playing with the pegboards you see below children learn about the concepts of height amp diameter without those words ever being used By the time those words are introduced children have a deep understanding of the conceptssame height
differ only in heightdiffer only in diameter
same diameter
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
El Sistema (Venezuelarsquos national system of Youth and Childrens Orchestras) was started by Joseacute Antonio Abreu in 1975 He envisioned classical music training as a social intervention that could transform the lives of poor kids El Sistema is intended as a social intervention with music at its core Rather than aiming to produce great musicians it aims to create community
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Provided free It takes all children (even deaf) Has reached over half a million children in 25 countries amp 3 continents
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
The National Dance Institute (NDI) was founded by Jacques dAmboise in 1976 to transform the lives of troubled youth through danceJacques was the best male ballet dancer in the world for 3 decades ampreceived the National Medal of Honor He was a high school dropouta poor kid from a poor neighbor- hood headed for trouble Since dance transformed his life he figured it might do the same for others
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Provided free It takes all children (even those in wheelchairs) Has reached over half a million children in some of the poorest areas
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Youth CircusSocial Circus
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Almost 200 cities throughout the US have youth circus programs as do many in Europe Youth circus is ldquocircus created and performed by youth as opposed to entertainment devised for youthrdquo Since the 1970s youth circuses have used circus arts to instill in young people qualities they need to survive and thrive in society teaching them the art of life through circus building character and inspiring youths especially those at-risk
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
These activities train and challenge cognitive skills ( lsquoexecutive functionsrsquo)
>
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Abreu ldquoThe person who knows 3 notes is the teacher to the person who knows 2 notesrdquo
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Child-to-child teaching has been found repeatedly to produce better (often dramatically better) outcomes than teacher-led instruction(review by Hall amp Stegila 2003 Miller 2005)
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Executive Functions depend on Prefrontal Cortex and the other neural regions with which it is interconnected
Prefrontal Cortex
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Prefrontal cortex is the newest area of the brain and the most vulnerable
Prefrontal Cortex
Frontal Cortex
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
If yoursquorebull sad or stressedbull lonely or bull not physically fit
Prefrontal Cortex and Executive Functions are the first to suffer and suffer THE MOST
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Conversely we show better Executive Functions when wersquore
bull happy
bull feel socially supported amp
bull wersquore healthy amp physically fit
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Amy Arnsten 1998
The biology of being frazzled
Science
Our brains work better when we are not in a stressed emotional state
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Stress impairs Executive Functions
and can cause anyone to look as if
he or she has an EF impairment (like ADHD)
when thatrsquos not the case
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
You may have noticed that when yoursquore stressed
you canrsquot think as clearly or exercise as good self-control
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
(Roth et al 1988)
Even mild stress increases DA release in PFC - but not elsewhere in the brain
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Saacutenchez MM Young LJ Plotsky PM Insel TR (2000)
Distribution of Corticosteroid Receptors in the Rhesus Brain
J Neurosci 20 4657-4568
In humans (amp primates in general) Prefrontal Cortex has more receptors for CORTISOL
than any other area in the brain
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
A few weeks of stress in preparation for a major exam disrupts communication between PFC and other brain regions (including parietal cortex anterior cingulate cortex
the insula and the cerebellum)
Liston et al (2009) PNAS
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Desseilles et al 2009von Hecker amp Meiser 2005
When we are sad we have worse selective attention
When we are happy we have better selective attention
Gable amp Harmon-Jones 2008
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
THE most heavily researched predictor of creativity in social psychology is mood
The most robust finding is that a happy mood leads to greater creativity (Ashby et al 1999)
It enables people to work more flexibly (Murray et al 1990) amp to see potential relatedness among unusual amp atypical members of categories (Isen et al 1985 1987)
People show more creativity when they are happy
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Itrsquos not that sadder people are less creative than happier ones but that an individual tends to be more creative when he or she is happier
than when he or she is more miserable
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Itrsquos important that children do things
that give themJOY
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
These activities engage childrenrsquos Passionate Enthusiasm (lsquoRuachrsquo) You can see the JOY on their faces
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
JOY is NOT the opposite of
SERIOUS
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Serious business(like learning) can and
should be JOYFUL
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Research shows we learn more and get more done when wersquore happy
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Therersquos no reason why learning canrsquot be joyful
When it is therersquos no clear distinction between lsquoworkrsquo
and lsquoplayrsquo
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Children need to
believe in themselves
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
These programs provide joy building feelings of pride amp self-confidence
>
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
We need to let children know itrsquos okay to make mistakes
The only alternative to is to stay with what you already know to stop growing
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Children need to feel safe hellipto push the limits of what they know hellipto venture into the unknown hellipto take the risk of making a mistake or of being wrong Children canrsquot relax if theyrsquore worried
you might embarass themThey canrsquot relax if they feel a lot of
pressure to always succeed and never mess up
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Making a mistake is not the worst thing in the world
Even the people you most respect
make mistakes and have done things they regretEVERYONE makes mistakes
Everyone is imperfect
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Imperfect ne Worthless
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
ldquoGoing wrong is just something you do on the way to going rightrdquo
-- Marshall Marcus
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Making a mistakeis NOT a problem
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Suffering embarrassment because
you made a mistakeis a problem
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
The important thing is how you reactafter yoursquove made a mistake or fallen short of a goal
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Youve never failed until youve tried for the last time and youve never lost until you quit
-- Samuel Proctor Massie
Itrsquos never over lsquotil itrsquos over
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
You havenrsquot failed lsquotil yoursquove stopped trying
Samuel Proctor Massie was born in the segregated South in the early 1900rsquos You know he encountered a lot of discrimination setbacks and failures Yet he rose to become one the most highly respected and decorated chemists of the 20th century
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Loneliness Human Nature and the Need for Social
Connection2008
a book by John Cacioppo
amp William Patrick
Our brains work better when we are not feeling lonely or socially isolated
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
People who feel lonely or are focusing on anticipating being alone show worse EFs than people who feel or anticipate feeling more socially supportedBaumeister et al 2002
Tangney et al 2004 Twenge et al 2002
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
We are fundamentally socialWe need to belongWe need to fit in amp be likedChildren who are lonely or ostracized have more difficulty learning
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
These activities address social needs provid-ing feelings of belonging and social
support
>
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
We are not just intellects with emotions
and social needs we also have bodies
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Our brains work better when our bodies are physically fit
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008)
ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart Exercise Effects on Brain
and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson
amp Art Kramer
ldquoThere is little doubt that leading a sedentary life
is bad for our cognitive healthrdquo
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
That is particularly true for prefrontal cortex and executive functions
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
People who are more physically active and have better aerobic
fitness have better EFsThatrsquos true for kids Scudder et al 2014
Hillman Castelli amp Buck 2005
and for older adults Boucard et al 2012Voelcker-Rehage Godde amp Staudinger
2010
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
The brain doesnrsquot recognize the same sharp division between cognitive and motor function that we impose in our thinking
The SAME or substantially overlapping brain systems subserve BOTH cognitive and motor function
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
For example an area of the brain called the pre-SMA
is important for sequential tasks
whether they are sequential motor tasks or sequential cognitive tasks
Hanakawa et al 2002
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Motor development and cognitive development appear to be fundamentally intertwinedDiamond A (2000)
Close Interrelation of Motor Development and Cognitive
Development and of the Cerebellum and Prefrontal Cortex
Child Development 71 44-56
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
These activities Improve Motor Skills amp
Physical Fitness
Orchestra trains visuomotor skills bimanual coordination amp fine motor skills
Dance improves aerobic fitness muscle strength amp flexibility coordination balance amp helps you move with increased grace amp reduced awkwardness
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Certainly they help develop motor skills such as bimanual and eye-hand coordination
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
lung capacity
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
strength amp flexibility
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Contrary to influential reviews of the benefits of aerobic exercisehellip
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (January 2008) ldquoBe Smart Exercise Your Heart
Exercise Effects on Brain and CognitionrdquoCharles Hillman Kirk Erickson amp Art Kramer
In particular the frontal lobe amp executive functions that depend on it show the largest
benefit from improved fitness
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Exercise without a cognitive component and perhaps without a social component (eg riding a stationary bike) produces little or no cognitive benefit
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Exercise alone appears not to be as effective in improving EFs as exercise-plus-character-develop-ment (traditional martial arts) exercise-plus-mindfulness (yoga) or other exercise that requires thought (such as soccer or circus)
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Lakes amp Hoyt (2004) randomly assigned children in grades K thru 5 (roughly 5-11 years old) by homeroom class to Tae-Kwon-Do martial arts or standard physical education
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Children assigned to Tae-Kwon-Do showed greater gains than children in standard phys ed on all dimensions of EFs studied (eg cognitive [focused vs distractible] and affective [persevere vs quit] and emotion regulation) This generalized to multiple contexts and was found on multiple measures
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Therersquos also evidence that any benefit of physical activity for cognition may be proportional to how much joy the physical activity brings
(Hill et al 2010 Raichlen Foster Gerdeman Seillier amp Giuffrida 2012 Heyman et al 2012 Wolf et al 2010)
Boring exercise is particularly unlikely to yield cognitive benefits
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
The different parts of the human being are fundamentally interrelated Each part (cognitive spiritual social emotional amp physical) is affected by and affects the others
Diamond 2007
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
The best and most efficient way to foster any one of those is to foster all of them
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
We have to care about childrenrsquosemotionalsocial amp physical well-being
if we want them to be able to problem-solve exercise self-control or display any of the other Executive Functions
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
If a child is stressed sad lonely or not physically fit
the very academic performance a school
is trying to improve will take a hit
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Returning to my prediction Activities will
most successfully improve Executive Functions
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
will not only work on directly improving Executive Functions by training and challenging them but
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
will indirectly support executive functions by lessening things that impair them (like stress or loneliness) and enhancing things that support them (like joy or physical vitality)
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
What activities directly train and challenge
executive functions and indirectly support them by also addressing our social
emotional and physical needs
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
TraditionalActivities
that have been around for millennia
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
For 10s of 1000s of years across all cultures storytelling dance art music amp play have been part of the human condition
People in all cultures made music sang danced did sports and played games There are good reasons why those activities have lasted so long and arose everywhere
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
These activitieshellipchallenge our intellect (EFs) hellipmake us happy amp proudhellipaddress our social needs andhelliphelp our bodies develop
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Key is that the child really enjoy the activity and really want to do it so she will spend a lot of time at it pushing him- or herself to improve
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
could be caring for an animalhellip
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Free the Children Children Changing the World More than 17 million youth involved in innovative education and develop-ment programs in 45 countriesEducates engages and empowers young people to be confident young change-makers and lifelong active citizens
97 of their students now believe they can make a difference in the world 89
confirm that their students are more confident in their goal-setting and completion
85 find a greater atmosphere of caring and compassion in the school 90
of their students have demonstrated increased leadership among their peers
Educators whose students are engaged in Free the Children report
Could be a SERVICE ACTIVITY such as
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
I fear that activities needed for children to thrive
(the arts physical activity amp play)
are being cut from school curricula and childrenrsquos lives
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Addressing childrenrsquos social emotional and physical needs may be key to
whether they do well in school and in life
Focusing exclusively on training cognition
(as mainstream education tends to do)may not be the best or most efficient way
to improve cognition
What if mainstream education has it all wrong
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
While it may seem logical that if you want to improve academic outcomes you should concentrate on academic instruction alone not everything that seems logical is correct
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
To show the EFs they are capable of to achieve the academic outcomes they are capable of children need to bull feel relaxed and happy (not stressed) bull feel they are in a supportive
community they can count on and
bull their bodies need to be fit amp healthy
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
If a child is emotionally socially and physically nourished
that child is more likely to show the full cognitive ability of
which he or she is capable and do better in school
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
On the other hand if a child is stressed sad
lonely or not physically fit the very academic
performance a school is trying to improve will take a hit
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
What nourishes the human spirit may also be best
for Executive Functions
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
Nurturing children socially emotionally cognitively and physically as the arts play and physical activity can do may be critical for achieving the outcomes we all want for our children
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
My thanks to the NIH (NIMH NICHD amp NIDA) which has continuously funded our work since 1986 amp to the Spencer Fdn CFI NSERC amp IES for recent support our work - and especially to all the members of my lab
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
Slide 109
Slide 110
Slide 111
Slide 112
Slide 113
Slide 114
Slide 115
Slide 116
Slide 117
Slide 118
Slide 119
Slide 120
Slide 121
Slide 122
Slide 123
Slide 124
Slide 125
Slide 126
Slide 127
Slide 128
Slide 129
Slide 130
Slide 131
Slide 132
Slide 133
Stress and Prefrontal Cortex
Slide 135
Slide 136
Slide 137
Slide 138
Slide 139
Slide 140
Slide 141
Slide 142
Slide 143
Slide 144
Slide 145
Slide 146
Slide 147
Slide 148
Slide 149
Slide 150
Slide 151
Slide 152
Slide 153
Slide 154
Slide 155
Slide 156
Slide 157
Slide 158
Slide 159
Slide 160
Slide 161
Slide 162
Slide 163
Slide 164
Slide 165
Slide 166
Slide 167
Slide 168
Slide 169
Slide 170
Slide 171
Slide 172
Slide 173
Slide 174
Slide 175
Slide 176
Slide 177
Slide 178
Slide 179
Slide 180
Slide 181
Slide 182
Slide 183
Slide 184
Slide 185
Slide 186
Slide 187
Slide 188
Slide 189
Slide 190
Slide 191
Slide 192
Slide 193
Slide 194
Slide 195
Slide 196
Slide 197
Slide 198
Slide 199
Slide 200
Slide 201
Slide 202
Slide 203
Slide 204
Slide 205
Slide 206
Slide 207
Slide 208
Slide 209
Slide 210
Slide 211
thank you so much for your attention
adelediamondubcca
Slide 1
Slide 2
Slide 3
Slide 4
Slide 5
Slide 6
Slide 7
Slide 8
Slide 9
Slide 10
Slide 11
Slide 12
Slide 13
Slide 14
Slide 15
Slide 16
Slide 17
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Slide 21
Slide 22
Slide 23
Slide 24
Slide 25
Slide 26
Slide 27
Slide 28
Slide 29
Slide 30
Slide 31
Slide 32
Slide 33
Slide 34
Slide 35
Slide 36
Slide 37
Slide 38
Slide 39
Slide 40
Slide 41
Slide 42
Slide 43
Slide 44
Slide 45
Slide 46
Slide 47
Slide 48
Slide 49
Slide 50
Slide 51
Slide 52
Slide 53
Slide 54
Slide 55
Slide 56
Slide 57
Slide 58
Slide 59
Slide 60
Slide 61
Slide 62
Slide 63
Slide 64
Slide 65
Slide 66
Slide 67
Slide 68
Slide 69
Slide 70
Slide 71
Slide 72
Slide 73
Slide 74
Slide 75
Slide 76
Slide 77
Slide 78
Slide 79
Slide 80
Slide 81
Slide 82
Slide 83
Slide 84
Slide 85
Slide 86
Slide 87
Slide 88
Slide 89
Slide 90
Slide 91
Slide 92
Slide 93
Buddy Reading
Buddy Reading (2)
Buddy Reading (3)
Buddy Reading (4)
Slide 98
Slide 99
Slide 100
Slide 101
Slide 102
Slide 103
Slide 104
Slide 105
Slide 106
Slide 107
Vygotsky Engaging in social pretend play is critical for dev
