Accelerated learning - Brain based learning

ACTIVE LEARNING

VISUAL MEMORY

Did you know that our visual recognition of things that we have seen before is practically perfect? This has been proved by showing 2560 photographic slides at the rate of one every ten seconds to a group of subjects and then testing them by showing 280 pairs of slides with one slide in each pair from the original set of images.

The subjects were then asked to select which slide they had seen before. They recognised 85 to 95 percent of the original slides correctly and even maintained these high scores when the presentation rate was increased to one every second.

So why is this important to us? Well, if we use images and pictures in our lessons that represent information, our students are more likely to remember that information.

YOU THINK IN PICTURES

Did you know that you think in pictures? Just think about your day so far. You got out of bed, probably showered, got dressed, had your breakfast and then went to school. Now as you remember all of that, do you see a description of the events of the early part of your day written out in words and sentences? Or do you see pictures of what you did? Of course you saw the pictures in your own mind. Now ask yourself this question: If I think in pictures, doesn't it make sense that I should use more pictures in my notes? A picture speaks a thousand words and it is easier to recall information in picture form than just from words alone.

WHY REPETITION IS IMPORTANT

When you create a memory, a pathway is created between your brain cells. It is like clearing a path through a dense forest. The first time that you do it, you have to fight your way through the undergrowth. If you don't travel that path again, very quickly it will become overgrown and you may not even realise that you have been down that path. If however, you travel along that path before it begins to grow over, you will find it easier than your first journey along that way.

Successive journeys down that path mean that eventually your track will turn into a footpath, which will turn into a lane, which will turn into a road, and into a motorway and so on. It is the same with your memory: the more times that you repeat patterns of thought, for example when learning new information, the more likely you will be able to recall that information. So repetition is a key part of learning.

THE MIND SEARCHES FOR PATTERNS

The mind tends to organise the information that it receives and tries to reduce them to simple patterns. This means that if the information fits into a certain pattern, it will help you in trying to remember it.

Furthermore, if you categorise the information that you are trying to memorise, you will be more likely to recall it. This was demonstrated in an experiment where two groups of people were given the same 100 words. One group was told to memorise them and the other was just told to sort and organise the words in the list. When both groups were tested the results in recalling the list of words were the same. This showed thatcategorising and organising information has a significant effect on the ability to recall that information.

MUSIC IS GOOD FOR THE BRAIN

Baroque music (mainly composed 1700-1750) produces exactly the right frequency and sound to harmonise the functioning of the brain and produce a state of calm relaxed alertness. That is why accelerated learning techniques introduce music into the learning process.

Music can also strengthen or weaken you. Classical music has been shown to have either a neutral or a strengthening effect but Rock Music has a weakening effect!

BRAIN FOODS

Your brain needs four basic foods to survive:

1. Oxygen (aerobic exercise is good for you).

2. A balanced and nutritious diet (eat your greens).

3. New and varied knowledge and information (keep on learning).

4. Affection and love.

MEN AND WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT

I am sure you will be aware that there is a huge amount of research that explores the psychological differences between men and women. What this research has found is that generally (and I will stress "generally" as these findings do not apply to every single man or woman) the following patterns have emerged:

Women:

* Score better than men on some language tasks

* Show a faster rate of language development

* Score better than men on some tests of social judgement, empathy and co-operation

* Are better at tests that involve generating ideas.

Men

* Perform better than women on mathematical reasoning tasks

* Score higher at tests that involve distinguishing between figure and background

* Find it easier to rotate objects in their mind's eye

* Are better at hitting targets

I will stress that these findings do not show that one sex is better than the other, they show that they are different.

STRESS AND MEMORY

One of the biggest destroyers of memory is stress. When you are stressed you release high levels of cortisol into your bloodstream. One of the ways that cortisol affects you is that it destroys glucose - the brain's only source of food. So if your brain is not getting the nutrients it needs then it will not function as well.

NEGATIVE STATEMENTS

Do you realise that the brain cannot process a negative command or statement? If you say to your child "be careful, don't spill your milk" as they carry the glass full of milk across the kitchen the child has to actually think of spilling the milk so that it can take the necessary action not to do it. We tend to get what we focus on and so by the child thinking of spilling milk that is often what tends to happen which normally results in a loud "But I told you not to spill that milk". So the moral of the story is ask for what you want, not what you don't want.