The brain

Brain Development

• Context, experience
• Neuroconstructivist view

neurons

• myelination
• white/gray matter
• synapses
• pruning
• neurotransmitters

Brain structure, cognition, emotion

• corpus callosum
• prefrontal cortex
• limbic system
• amygdala

How do we apply this information?

• Do teens know what love is?
• Should teens be given harsh sentences in crimes?
• What are the implications for education?

Piaget

• formal operational thought
• metacognition
• hypothetical-deductive reasoning
• assimilation, accomodation

Neo-Piagetians

• Inadequate focus on attention, memory, cognitive strategies.
• Link between emotions and self-serving perspectives

Post formal thought

• Reflective, relativistic, and contextual
• Provisional
• Realistic
• Recognized as being influenced by emotion
• "Cross Category Friends"

Wisdom

• High levels are rare
• Emerges between late adolescence/early adulthood
• Values and life experiences
• Personality: Openness to experience and creativity
• Three dimensions: Cognitive, Reflective, Affective

Vygotsky

• Zone of Proximal Development
• Social Constructivist Approach
• Teachers are mentors, facilitators and guides

Information Processing

• Attention (selective, divided, sustained, executive)
• Memory (short-term, long-term, working)
• Cognitive control/flexibility
• Creativity and critical thinking
• Intelligence