attention

Desirable difficulty for effective learning

When we are presented with new information, we try and connect it to information we already hold. This is automatic. Sometimes the information fits in easily; other times the fit is more difficult — perhaps because some of our old information is wrong, or perhaps because we lack some of the knowledge we need to fit them together.

References: 

D’Mello, S., Lehman B., Pekrun R., & Graesser A. (Submitted). Confusion can be beneficial for learning. Learning and Instruction.

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Choosing when to think fast & when to think slow

I recently read an interesting article in the Smithsonian about procrastination and why it’s good for you. Frank Partnoy, author of a new book on the subject, pointed out that procrastination only began to be regarded as a bad thing by the Puritans — earlier (among the Greeks and Romans, for example), it was regarded more as a sign of wisdom.

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Neglect your senses at your cognitive peril!

Impaired vision is common in old age and even more so in Alzheimer’s disease, and this results not only from damage in the association areas of the brain but also from problems in lower-level areas. A major factor in whether visual impairment impacts everyday function is contrast sensitivity.

References: 

(In order of mention)

Rogers MA, Langa KM. 2010. Untreated poor vision: a contributing factor to late-life dementia. American Journal of Epidemiology, 171(6), 728-35.

Clemons TE, Rankin MW, McBee WL, Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group. 2006. Cognitive impairment in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study: AREDS report no. 16. Archives of Ophthalmology, 124(4), 537-43.

Paxton JL, Peavy GM, Jenkins C, Rice VA, Heindel WC, Salmon DP. 2007. Deterioration of visual-perceptual organization ability in Alzheimer's disease. Cortex, 43(7), 967-75.

Cronin-Golomb, A., Gilmore, G. C., Neargarder, S., Morrison, S. R., & Laudate, T. M. (2007). Enhanced stimulus strength improves visual cognition in aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Cortex, 43, 952-966.

Toner, Chelsea K.;Reese, Bruce E.;Neargarder, Sandy;Riedel, Tatiana M.;Gilmore, Grover C.;Cronin-Golomb, A. 2011. Vision-fair neuropsychological assessment in normal aging, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. Psychology and Aging, Published online December 26.

Laudate, T. M., Neargarder S., Dunne T. E., Sullivan K. D., Joshi P., Gilmore G. C., et al. (2011). Bingo! Externally supported performance intervention for deficient visual search in normal aging, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition. 19(1-2), 102 - 121.

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What babies can teach us about effective information-seeking and management

Here’s an interesting study that’s just been reported: 72 seven- and eight-month-old infants watched video animations of familiar fun items being revealed from behind a set of colorful boxes (see the 3-minute YouTube video).

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Event boundaries and working memory capacity

In a recent news report, I talked about how walking through doorways creates event boundaries, requiring us to update our awareness of current events and making information about the previous location less available. I commented that we should be aware of the consequences of event boundaries for our memory, and how these contextual factors are important elements of our filing system. I want to talk a bit more about that.

References: 

Culham, J. 2001. The brain as film director. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 5 (9), 376-377.

Kurby, C. a, & Zacks, J. M. (2008). Segmentation in the perception and memory of events. Trends in cognitive sciences, 12(2), 72-9. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2007.11.004

Speer, N. K., Zacks, J. M., & Reynolds, J. R. (2007). Human Brain Activity Time-Locked to Narrative Event Boundaries. Psychological Science, 18(5), 449–455. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01920.x

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Finding the right strategy through perception and physical movement

I talk a lot about how working memory constrains what we can process and remember, but there’s another side to this — long-term memory acts on working memory. That is, indeed, the best way of ‘improving’ your working memory — by organizing and strengthening your long-term memory codes in such a way that large networks of relevant material are readily accessible.

Oddly enough, one of the best ways of watching the effect of long-term memory on working memory is through perception.

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Improving attention through nature

Until recent times, attention has always been quite a mysterious faculty. We’ve never doubted attention mattered, but it’s only in the past few years that we’ve appreciated how absolutely central it is for all aspects of cognition, from perception to memory. The rise in our awareness of its importance has come in the wake of, and in parallel with, our understanding of working memory, for the two work hand-in-hand.

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Seeing without words

I was listening on my walk today to an interview with Edward Tufte, the celebrated guru of data visualization. He said something I took particular note of, concerning the benefits of concentrating on what you’re seeing, without any other distractions, external or internal. He spoke of his experience of being out walking one day with a friend, in a natural environment, and what it was like to just sit down for some minutes, not talking, in a very quiet place, just looking at the scene.

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Daydreaming nurtures creativity?

Back in 2010, I read a charming article in the New York Times about a bunch of neuroscientists bravely disentangling themselves from their technology (email, cellphones, laptops, …) and going into the wilderness (rafting down the San Juan River) in order to get a better understanding of how heavy use of digital technology might change the way we think, and whether we can reverse the problem by immersing ourselves in nature.

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