Educational Psychology News

August 25, 2016

Scientists Find Brain's Generosity Center

Early Brain Connections Key to Reading

Background Noise Interferes With Kids Learning

Remember the Positive? Can Be Tied to Memory Loss

Latest Headlines

updated 10:36pm EDT

For Teens, Feeling Safe at School Means Increased Academic Success

Aug. 24, 2016 — Parents across North America are prepping their teens to head back to high school, hoping they will study hard to get straight A's. But new research shows that good grades aren't just based on smarts ... read more

Teachers Favor Middle-Class Behaviors by Students

Aug. 23, 2016 — Sociologists have found that teachers often inadvertently translate students' class-based behaviors into unequal opportunities in school. Teachers favor middle-class students in various ways, perhaps ... read more

Study Suggests Early Learning in Native Language Can Help English Skills

Aug. 17, 2016 — Spanish-speaking preschoolers experience significant improvements in their English skills when they have a good grasp of Spanish letters and numbers, research indicates. In another study, the ... read more

Study Casts Doubt on Claim That People Are Over-Optimistic

Aug. 16, 2016 — For many decades scientists have believed that people have an 'irrational optimism bias' -- a tendency to underestimate their chances of negative experiences, while overestimating their chances of ... read more

School Quality, Genetics Play Role in Child’s Reading Ability

Aug. 10, 2016 — Natural smarts can only take a child so far if they are also attending a poor school, according to new educational ... read more

'Cultural Learners' in the Cradle

Aug. 10, 2016 — Well before starting to speak, children from a very young age pay higher attention to the information received from native speakers of their language compared to the information received from ... read more

Positive Teacher-Student Relationships Boost Good Behavior in Teenagers for Up to 4 Years

Aug. 9, 2016 — The first study to look at the impact of the relationship with teachers on adolescent behavior finds that a positive teacher-student relationship can ... read more

Online Gaming Can Boost School Scores

Aug. 8, 2016 — Teenagers who regularly play online video games tend to improve their school results, according to new research. But school students who visit Facebook or chat sites every day are more likely to fall ... read more

Reducing 'Mean Girl' Behaviors in Classrooms Benefits Boys and Teachers Too

Aug. 2, 2016 — When a targeted program to reduce relational aggression among at-risk girls is shared with the entire classroom, the entire class benefits -- not just the aggressive girls for whom the program was ... read more

Adolescent Drinking Damages Later Verbal Learning and Memory Performance

July 27, 2016 — Adolescence is both a time of rapid neurobiological changes and of the initiation of drinking – alcohol is the most commonly used substance among students in grades eight to 12. Binge-drinking ... read more

Avatar Robot Staves Off Sick Children's Isolation

Medical Schools Tackle Opioid Painkiller Abuse

Mixing Job Training With Academics in Schools

Silenced by Autism, Young Man Finds His Voice

Lacking Other Meaningful Data, University Faculty Devise Their Own Evaluation Systems

Aug. 23, 2016 — Faculty teaching in the STEM disciplines at large research universities are devising their own systems to collect instructional data from their classrooms and using that data to inform their ... read more

Are Urban Black Males Shortchanged in Classroom?

Aug. 18, 2016 — Giving special treatment to young urban black males in the high school classroom runs the risk of shortchanging these students academically once they get to college, indicates a new ... read more

Negative Attention from Teachers Can Lead to More Negative Student Behaviors

Aug. 8, 2016 — Researchers have developed a new method for observing and measuring teacher interaction with every child in a classroom. As a result of testing this method within K-3 classrooms, they found that ... read more

Kindergarteners' Mathematics Success Hinges on Preschool Skills

Aug. 4, 2016 — Researchers have discovered that preschoolers who better process words associated with numbers and understand the quantities associated with these words are more likely to have success with math when ... read more

Creativity, Intermedial Languages as Bridge to Communicate With Autistic Children

July 28, 2016 — This pioneering research using drama with autistic children started with an Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project 'Imagining Autism: Drama, Performance and Intermediality as ... read more

Photos Capture Challenges for Teens With Autism, Show Animals as Resource

July 27, 2016 — Through use of photographs, adolescents with ASD were able to share their accounts of difficulties transitioning out of school, their struggles with socialization and how they use animals as a source ... read more

Neural Circuits Involved in Making Risky Decisions Identified

July 26, 2016 — New research sheds light on what's going on inside our heads as we decide whether to take a risk or play it safe. Scientists located a region of the brain involved in decisions made under ... read more

Here's Why Run-Down Schools Trigger Low Test Scores

July 21, 2016 — More than 230 New York City public middle schools were involved in a study that found a chain reaction at work: leaking toilets, smelly cafeterias, broken furniture, and run-down classrooms made ... read more

How the Brain Improves Motor Control

July 21, 2016 — Adaptation in reaching -- gradual improvement of motor control in response to a perturbation -- is a central issue in motor neuroscience. However, even the cortical origin of errors that drive ... read more

3-D-Printing Lab Instruments One Block at a Time

July 20, 2016 — Building lab instruments for chemistry and biology experiments used to be an expensive, time consuming process only done by scientists with specialized training. A 3-D printed, Lego-like system of ... read more

Social Robots: Programmable by Everyone

July 20, 2016 — Social robots can be used in the educational or health system, where they would support trainers and therapists in their work. The robots can be programmed to practice vocabulary with children or to ... read more

Scientists Predict Academic Achievement from DNA Alone

July 19, 2016 — Scientists have used a new genetic scoring technique to predict academic achievement from DNA alone. This is the strongest prediction from DNA of a behavioral measure to ... read more

Body-Mind Meditation Can Boost Attention and Health, Lower Stress

July 18, 2016 — Meditation has long been promoted as a way to feel more at peace. But research shows it can significantly improve attention, working memory, creativity, immune function, emotional regulation, ... read more

Infantile Memory Study Points to Critical Periods in Early-Life Learning for Brain Development

July 18, 2016 — A new study on infantile memory formation in rats points to the importance of critical periods in early-life learning on functional development of the brain. The research reveals the significance of ... read more

Genomic Region Associated With Autism Plays Role in Specific Cognitive Functions

July 18, 2016 — A new study reports that variations in 16p11.2, a region of the genome associated with risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), have distinct effects on cognition. The findings highlight the diversity ... read more

New Study of Toddlers Sheds Light on Value of Facetime Video Chat as Meaningful Interaction

July 15, 2016 — Working parents and grandparents who FaceTime with their toddlers can take heart from a new study that sheds new light that on young children and how they engage in—and learn from—screen-time ... read more

Ability to Turn Off Genes in Brain Crucial for Learning, Memory

July 14, 2016 — Every time you move around, you are turning on genes in your brain. A study in mice shows that if such genes get stuck in the "on" position, the consequences can include faulty brain wiring ... read more

Cinnamon May Aid Learning Ability

July 12, 2016 — Cinnamon is a delicious addition to toast, coffee and breakfast rolls. Eating the tasty household spice also might improve learning ability, according to new ... read more

Machine Learning Puts New Lens on Autism Screening and Diagnostics

July 12, 2016 — Researchers are now exploring whether machine learning might play an important role in helping screen for autism and guide caregiver and practitioner ... read more

Genetics Play Role in Character Traits Related to Academic Success

July 12, 2016 — Character traits, such as grit or desire to learn, have a heavy hand in academic success and are partially rooted in genetics, according to a new psychology ... read more

Tuesday, August 23, 2016