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

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

Can Teachers Increase Students’ Self Control?

By Daniel T. Willingham

How does the mind work—and especially how does it learn? Teachers’ instructional decisions are based on a mix of theories learned in teacher education, trial and error, craft knowledge, and gut instinct. Such knowledge often serves us well, but is there anything sturdier to rely on?

Cognitive science is an interdisciplinary field of […]

• Behavior

Behavior Modification In The Classroom

By Nancy Mather and Sam Goldstein 

Behavior modification assumes that observable and measurable behaviors are good targets for change. All behavior follows a set of consistent rules. Methods can be developed for defining, observing, and measuring behaviors, as well as designing effective interventions. Behavior modification techniques never fail. Rather, they are either applied inefficiently or inconsistently, […]

• Articles
• Behavior