Educating the Human Brain

by Posner, Michael I.; Rothbart, Mary

• ISBN13: 9781591473817
• ISBN10: 1591473810
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-10-15
• Publisher: American Psychological Association
• More Book Details

Summary

Educating the Human Brain is the product of a quarter century of research. This book provides an empirical account of the early development of attention and self regulation in infants and young children. It examines the brain areas involved in regulatory networks, their connectivity, and how their development is influenced by genes and experience. Relying on the latest techniques in cognitive and temperament measurement, neuroimaging, and molecular genetics, the book integrates research on neural networks common to all of us with studies of individual differences.
 
In this book, the authors explain where, when, and how the brain performs functions that are necessary for learning. Such functions include attending to information; controlling attention through effort; regulating the interplay of emotion with cognition; and coding, organizing, and retrieving information. The authors suggest how these aspects of brain development can support school readiness, literacy, numeracy, and expertise. The audience for this book includes neuroscientists as well as developmental and educational psychologists who have interest in the latest brain research. The many helpful visuals — including brain diagrams, pictures and photographs of experimental set-ups, and graphs and tables displaying key data — also give this book appeal for graduate students.
 

Author Biography

Mary K. Rothbart is a distinguished professor emerita at the University of Oregon, Eugene. Michael I. Posner is currently professor emeritus at the University of Oregon, Eugene, and adjunct professor of psychology in psychiatry at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	vii
Preface	xi
Overview	3	(4)
Education, Psychology, and the Brain	7	(18)
Relating Brain and Mind	25	(30)
Learning to Look	55	(24)
A Mind of One's Own	79	(20)
Genes and Environment	99	(22)
Temperament and Learning	121	(26)
Literacy	147	(26)
Numeracy	173	(16)
Expertise	189	(20)
Preparing for School	209	(8)
References	217	(28)
Author Index	245	(8)
Subject Index	253	(10)
About the Authors	263