assessing the developing child jane holmes bernstein ph.d. neuropsychology program department of...
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Assessing the Developing
Child
Jane Holmes Bernstein Ph.D.Neuropsychology ProgramDepartment of Psychiatry
Children’s Hospital Boston Harvard Medical School
MIND, BRAIN and EDUCATION
in 2011
Mary Cassatt, 1898
Collection RauZurich
4 points…
POINT #1
traditional models for understanding children’s behavior are inadequate to the current task
Traditionally,
focused on measurement—
of a child’s abilities
Measuring children’s abilities
Psychometric paradigm Skill based Factor analysis of cognitive constructs
underlying skills
Emphasis on inter-child ranking…
In 2011….
Neuropsychology:
Emphasis on biology
Biological organism behaving in
environment
Emphasis on whole child as unit of analysis
Analysis is intra-child
Clinical goal
…increase success of organism’s behaving in environment
[ecological validity defined in terms of organism acting in niche]
Assessment
Evaluationdata collection
clinical analysis
diagnosis Management
educationintervention
[Rx & Tx]
POINT #2
Neuro = brain
What “drives” brains….?
INSERT CLASSROOM IMAGE
INSERT CLASSROOM IMAGE
NOPE !!
What “drives” brains….?
What “drives” brains….?
What “drives” brains….?
Perpetuation of the
species
What “drives” brains….?
FoodFightFlightFriends
What “drives” brains….?
FoodFightFlightFriends
Preservation of self
What “drives” brains….?
….survival ….of the individual….of the species….
“What drives brains?”
Evolutionary context of ‘brain’
What are brains for?
What are brains for?
Thinking….
What are brains for?
Doing!
Motor action…….
POINT #3
How do brains work……
Digression…
You are part of an intellectual tradition….
A bit of history…… For >500 years:
The person has been at the center of how we think about
ourselves
Fundamental assumption….
“..autonomous individual is center of knowledge and cognition..” (Dumont, 1965)
“..the boundaries of the individual provide the proper framework within which psychological processes can be adequately analyzed..” (Wertsch et al., 1985)
Cognition:
= set of processes that are internal and accessible only to the person to whom they belong
Fits with our experience of the world
Important for our psychological health
Fine…..
BUT…..
It’s wrong!!!!!
And we have NEUROSCIENCE to thank…..
Why is this important?
This long-held belief shapes how we understand learning and
learners.
It shapes psychological and educational research….
It thus shapes our education system.
…and,
More recent times…. Emphasis has shifted from child-as-
learner To
child-as-owner-of-the-learning-organ
Brain….
Brain…
get builtDoesn’t develop in a vacuum
function
[BRAIN CONTEXT]
Can you have dyslexia if no-one ever asks you to read?
No !
Biological vulnerability
versus
Manifest symptom
Brain-Context interaction
Physical
Brain systemsNeurochemical
bath
Physical world[space, light,
sound..]
Psychological
SocialEmotional
Beliefs, goals, values
Context
Tendency to think SPATIAL context
But, not just spatial (here-and-now);
Context
Not just spatial (here-and-now);
but TEMPORAL context is critical to the analysis
(history: how-did-it-get-this-way?)
Context
Temporal context:
evolution of THE brain construction of the current
social setting developmental experience of
THIS brain
Levels in neuroscience
Genes Gene expression Molecules [regulate brain development] Cells Chemical circuits Anatomical circuits Functional circuits Activity of mind/brain [normal and derailed
feeling and thinking]
Recallthis…
Levels in neuroscience
Genes Gene expression Molecules [regulate brain development] Cells Chemical circuits Anatomical circuits Functional circuits Activity of mind/brain [normal and derailed
feeling and thinking]
Levels in neuroscience
Genes Gene expression Molecules [regulate brain development] Cells Chemical circuits Anatomical circuits Functional circuits Activity of mind/brain [normal and derailed
feeling and thinking]
PARADIGM [monkey]Recording of MT neuronsAnalysis noise correlations
simultaneous recording identical visual stimulus
Behavioral context cooperative interactions & competitive interactions.
MT neurons receive inputs of central origin whose strength changes with the task structure
Cohen & Newsome, Neuron 2008
Context…
ÉMEANINGto the organism..
at the time..
How do brains work……
Importance of the
[brain context] interaction
Brain as both independent and dependent variable
POINT #4
Cardinal feature of child ?
Developing…………
Theoretical Matrix…..
BRAIN: substrate for behavior
CONTEXT: brains do not operate in isolation
DEVELOPMENT: dynamic change
Developmental models….
Change – and continuity…………
(Obligatory) transactions with context
Non-linear; successive re-organization
Why?
Implications for assessment ?
For design/methodology
For selection/collection of data
For interpretation of observations
For management/intervention planning
And also……
For research questions ?
For theories of neurobehavioral development ?
For research design/methodology ?
Remind you…..
Research
investigations: seek universals are variable-
centered maximize
internal validity
Remind you…..
Research
investigations.. seek universals are variable-
centered maximize
internal validity
Clinical investigations.. deal with
individuals are person-
centered maximize
external validity
Remind you…..
Research
investigations.. seek universals are variable-
centered maximize
internal validity
Clinical investigations.. deal with
individuals are person-
centered maximize
external validityHow do you resolve this tension?
How do you apply research-obtained knowledge to the individual
case?