Are Screens “Digital Heroin?”

By Dan Willingham

A piece appeared in the New York Post on August 27 with the headline “It’s digital heroin: How screens turn kids into psychotic junkies.”

Even allowing for the fact that authors don’t write headlines, this article is hyperbolic and poorly argued. I said as much on Twitter and my Facebook page, and several people […]

• Articles
• Attention
• Behavior
• Comprehension
• Organizing and Processing
• Retention

From Distress to De-Stress

Ideas for Teachers, Parents and others helping anxious, worried kids

By Jerome Schultz, Ph.D.

Teach kids how to relax.

Consider this vignette:

Roxanne: (agitated and loudly) I can’t stand this freakin’ book!

Teacher: Roxanne, you need to take it easy. Just calm down! Try to relax. You need to finish your reading.

Roxanne: (to herself) […]

• Articles
• Attention
• Behavior
• Parents
• Social Skills
• Teaching

Are Decorated Classroom Walls Too Distracting?

By Dan Willingham

We normally expect that a kindergarten classroom will be decorated with colorful posters, maps, and student artwork. But a recent study indicated that trimming out the classroom may distract students, and compromise learning.

Headlines in the press have been not equivocated. The Telegraph, Tampa Bay Times, and Smithsonian all ran stories along the lines […]

• Articles
• Attention
• Teaching

What People Know About the Cost of Multitasking

By Dan Willingham

Researchers emphasize there are very few circumstances in which you can do two things at once without cost (relative to doing each on its own). Yet some drivers sneak a look at their phone while on the road, and some students have the television playing while they complete an assignment.

Why? One possibility is […]

• Articles
• Attention
• Behavior
• Learning

What Can A Student Do To Increase His/Her Attention?

By Glenda Thorne, Ph.D. and Alice Thomas, M.Ed.

Attention Self-Test (Designed primarily for the junior high school student; statements may be adjusted for younger or older students.) Directions: Circle one number for each question. Key 0 Never 1 Sometimes 2 Often 3 Always

1. In conversations with friends or when the teacher […]

• Articles
• Attention

What Is The Relationship Between ADHD And Self-Control?

By Sam Goldstein, Ph.D.

Parents and teachers report that although children with ADHD are not supposed to be able to pay attention, there are many activities or situations during which their attention span appears focused, if not even more focused than unaffected children. If ADHD is a problem of paying attention, how is this possible?

Problems sustaining […]

• Articles
• Attention

What Is Attention?

By Glenda Thorne and Alice Thomas

Attention Quick Facts

Paying attention is the first step in the learning process.
Everybody fails to pay attention sometimes, but some people fail to pay attention a lot.
Not paying attention to what you are doing can be a problem for both children and adults. For example, not listening to the directions in […]

• Articles
• Attention

What Are Some Problems With Attention?

By Glenda Thorne and Alice Thomas

Alertness and Arousal

Deficits in alertness and arousal to having a reticular activating system can be compared to a “stuck” thermostat. The alert and arousal thermostat will not turn completely up in the morning so that we are optimally alert and aroused and will not turn down sufficiently at night so […]

• Articles
• Attention

Is Attention Related To Motivation?

By Alice Thomas and Glenda Thorne

Q: Is attention related to motivation?

A: Yes. In our work with teachers, we frequently ask, “In your experience, what are the most common impediments to student achievement in your classrooms?” Almost without fail, at the top or near the top of the list is the big “M” word: MOTIVATION. […]

• Articles
• Attention

Why Is Paying Attention So Hard?

By Glenda Thorne and Alice Thomas

“You need to pay attention to me when I’m talking to you.”

“Your grades would be better if you would put out more effort; you’re just not motivated!”

“See what happens when you’re not paying attention to what you’re doing?”

“I have the hardest time paying attention to something I’m not interested in.”

For […]

• Articles
• Attention