learning like a boss
TRANSCRIPT
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
1/70
Learning like a
Boss
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
2/70
Learning happens in the brain
(along with other things)
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
3/70
Learning happens in the brain
(along with other things) These are PET (positron emission scans)
How it works:
1.Radioactive particle similar to glucose is introduced into thebody via injection into bloodstream.
2.Particle is uptaken into areas of the brain where glucose is
used.
3.Patient is put into machine that picks up on radioactiveemissions.
4. Areas that light up indicate glucose use, meaning that
activity is happening in that part of the brain.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
4/70
PET scanner
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
5/70
Brain activity happens with
neurons (brain cells)
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
6/70
Brain activity happens with
neurons (brain cells) Neurons are connected in a network
Neurons, like all other living things, need a source of energy (they happen to
use glucose)
Lights on the PET scan mean neurons in that area are being activated Neuronal networks are like networks of phone operators connected by
telephone lines
Multiple neurons may provide input into one neuron (at they same time they
are giving inputs to other neurons as well)
The combination of these inputs determines what action that one neuron does
to the other neurons it is connected to
In terms of telephones, think of different people giving intel to one person
because some type of emergency is going on. Based on this information, this
one person then decides what to say to Bob, who gets calls from other people.
Based on this information Bob decides what to say to another person on the
telephone(and so on and so on)
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
7/70
Single neuron
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
8/70
Single neuron
Single neuron=one operator
The dendrites receive electrical impulses from
other neurons
The neuron gets all the information and decides
whether or not to fire an electrical signal of its
own
The neurons electrical signal travels down the
axon and goes to other neurons through the
terminal buttons.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
9/70
Synaptic gap (synapse): where
neurons communicate
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
10/70
Synaptic gap (synapse): where
neurons communicate Neurons communicate via electrical signals and chemicals
When information is travelling in the neuron it is in the
electrical form When information is crossing the gap (synapse) between
one neuron and another, information travels chemically
(the chemicals are called neurotransmitters)
Information is continuously translated between chemicaland electrical forms
With telephones, sound waves from talking is translated to
an electrical form to travel across wires. When the
electrical signal reaches another telephone, the signal is
converted back into sound waves.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
11/70
Changes in synapse source of
learning (in theory)
Initial Exposure
After Repetition
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
12/70
Changes in synapse source of
learning (in theory) When learning connections between neurons are
strengthened with possibly:
1.More dendritic connections2.Increase in postsynaptic receptors
3.Change in molecules in synapse
4.Change in amount of neurotransmitter (chemical
messenger) released These strengthened connections are what are believed to
store learning
Need to study and review material to strengthen synaptic
connections
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
13/70
Brain VideoC
lip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLxU80
ge7vg
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
14/70
Types of Intelligence* Crystallized Intelligence: learning from past
experiences and learning, based on facts and
rooted in experience (e.g. learned strategies,content knowledge, etc.)
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
15/70
Crystallized Intelligence
1.Crystallized Intelligence:
Increases as you get older because you acquire
more experiences as you get older
Includes learned strategies and content knowledge
By learned strategies, I mean learned procedures
that are helpful in solving a problem
* There are many different classifications of
intelligence. This is one of the more popular
systems.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
16/70
Types of Intelligence Fluid Intelligence: individuals innate
ability to carry out higher-level cognitive
operations, thought to be independent ofexperience (e.g. inductive/deductive
reasoning, analysis, etc)
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
17/70
Fluid Intelligence. Fluid Intelligence:
Peaks in young adulthood and then steadily
declines
Different people have a maximum attainable
fluid intelligence rating
This maximum rating is independent of
experience, but cognitive training exercises
can help people achieve their maximum
potential
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
18/70
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
19/70
Crystallized Intelligence
(learning)1.Crystallized Intelligence:
For general crystallized intelligence read or watch videos
from a variety of different subjects For crystallized intelligence required for this class, read and
memorize the important points on my powerpoints (can also
rewrite notes, use flashcards)
Furthermore, be sure to make important CONNECTIONS
between the important points (Your knowledge shouldnt be
a random set of facts but a set of facts organized by
important principles, explained more later)
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
20/70
Stronger synaptic connections
(learning) with brain use Fluid Intelligence:
If this happens I aint
doing my job.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
21/70
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
22/70
Effort versus Ability http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF5yB3
1IT5Y
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
23/70
Effort versus ability Research has shown that people that
believe that it takes hard work to learn
things do better in school than students thatbelieve that only smart people can learn
things.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
24/70
Lifestyle choices affecting
learning: exercise In a new review article highlighting the
results of more than a hundred recent
human and animal studies on this topic,Michelle W. Voss, of the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her
colleagues show that both aerobic exerciseand strength training play a vital role in
maintaining brain and cognitive health
throughout life.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
25/70
Lifestyle choices affecting
learning: exercise Exercise makes a difference in learning, but not as big a difference for
younger people as for older people.
Nevertheless, exercise seems to benefit all aspects of general health.
The healthier you are, the less thing you have weighing down on yourcognitive functioning and hence the better you learn.
It is still not known for sure how exercise increases brain health but
there are many theories:
1. Exercise increases the flow of blood to your brain, meaning that the
neurons in the brain receive more Oxygen and nutrients.2. Neurogenesis: birth of new neuronal cells??? (Big because for years it
was believed number of neurons in adult brain was fixed)
3. Increase in chemical called BDNF which promotes neurogenesis and
protects against cell death
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
26/70
Lifestyle choices affecting
learning: exercise The most persuasive evidence of enhanced
learning through exercise can be found in
the transformation of a school district inChicago that has implemented daily
exercise programs in its curriculum.
(on ABC World News)
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
27/70
Lifestyle choices affecting
learning: exercise In fact, at Naperville, whenever the math
teacher senses his students are zoning out,
he gives them a "brain break," a short burstof physical activity.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
28/70
Lifestyle choices affecting
learning: sleep Sleep deprivation increases the number of
errors in working memory tasks
Working memory is responsible to holdinformation temporarily while it is used in
cognitive tasks
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
29/70
Working Memory Working memory is what is used to process and
retain novel information
Thought to be able to hold an average of 7 +/- 2objects (about the length of a telephone number)
Only some of the information in working
memory is sent to long term memory, usually the
information that is seen repeatedly, used often, or
is considered very important by the individual
(this is called storage)
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
30/70
Lifestyle choices affecting
learning: sleep Studies have shown that sleep is important
in the creation oflong term memories
through memory consolidation
Long term memory is a system for
permanently storing, managing, and
retrieving information for later use
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
31/70
More about sleep and memory The REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep was found to be particularly important
in long term memory consolidation for declarative memory
Declarative memory is memory of things that can be declared (e.g. names, events,
words)
Long term memory is retrieved from storage to help give meaning to anything a person
may be dealing with (e.g. when a person sees a spoon, that spoon is automatically paired
with its verbal name, use, and maybe personal events related to the spoon. All this
information comes from long term memory.)
Unlike short term memory, long term memory can store unlimited amounts of
information
Other possible functions of sleep:
1. Energy conservation
2. Random firing of neurons, dreaming is way for brain to make sense of them
3. Helps in the creation of secondary consciousness (i.e. knowing that you are you)
Think of sleep as save checkpoints. Use them to your advantage!
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
32/70
Lifestyle choices affecting
learning: diet Eat breakfast/lunch/snack!
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
33/70
Lifestyle choices affecting
learning: diet Complex carbohydrates are especially important for energy (i.e.
legumes, vegetables, breads, pasta and cereals)
Study done with energy drinks showing that energy drinks improved
performance on cognitive tasks This study is consistent with the idea that the brain needs to be
supplied with an appropriate amount of glucose
Neurons cannot store glucose and so they rely on glucose in the
bloodstream
http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/carbs.html (studies done on rats):
contents and timing of meals may need to be coordinated to have the
most beneficial cognitive effects that enhance learning.
Low blood glucose levels can lead to a significant deterioration in
attention abilities
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
34/70
Studying
Strategies: pace
Study in chunks. According to Dartmouth
University, students should study in 20-50
minute intervals followed by 10 minutebreaks.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
35/70
Studying
Strategies: pace
Studying in chunks keeps mind fresh
Gives the brain a chance to correctly
process the information given
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
36/70
Studying Strategies: Make
information relevant Science, as with anything based on logic,
should be consistent
Make sure things youre learning are
consistent with your previous knowledge
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
37/70
Studying Strategies: Make
information relevant Relating the material to previously learned
material helps you remember it better. This
is because you are not simply memorizingthe material on its own but are actually
building up from things you already know.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
38/70
Studying Strategies: Make
information relevant
Fatty foods
Heart
Disease
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
39/70
Studying Strategies: Make
information relevant Hebbian theory: cells that fire together,
wire together
Learn that fatty foods helps cause heart
disease by continuously relating the two
together, thereby strengthening their
connection
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
40/70
Studying Strategies: Make
information relevantFatty foods
Heart
Disease
Clogged
Arteries
1
2
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
41/70
Studying Strategies: Make
information relevant Its not for sure known how exactly the wiring in the brain for associations
works
The main point is that by learning how different concepts relate to each other,
you provide yourself more ways to remember that the concepts relate to each
other and hence strengthens your memory of their relationship.
You can also remember that fatty foods causes heart disease by remembering
that fatty foods cause clogged arteries leading to heart disease. This gives you
two ways to remember the relation between fatty foods and heart disease.
For example you can memorize that 2x3=6. You can also think that
2x3=2+2+2=6. This additional connection will help you remember that 2x3=6if you forget the memorized answer.
For this class just remember that everything you learn should fit into one
whole framework. If something you learn seems to be contradicted by
something you learned earlier, find out if this is really the case. Relating the
material like this will greatly increase you understanding and memory of it.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
42/70
Studying Strategies: Make
information relevant Another way of saying this is to organize
your knowledge. Organizing your
knowledge makes it a lost easier to access.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
43/70
Studying Strategies: Make
information relevant Lets say a book comes into a library (your
memory). If you dont properly label the book,
chances are youre going to lose it. In the sameway, if you dont properly organize your memory
chances are that you will lose it.
This is why lots of people struggle in math. They
may see math as random numbers and procedureswith no connection, and so knowledge gets lost.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
44/70
Studying Strategies: Make
information relevant Example: Take one minute and memorize
the following numbers:
149162536496481
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
45/70
Studying Strategies: Make
information relevant If you figured out how to organize these
numbers, this may have not been that hard
of a task (Hint: think squares of numbers)
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
46/70
Studying Strategies: distributing
study lessons Dont cram before the test! Space the
studying (Boxer analogy)
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
47/70
Studying Strategies: distributing
study lessons Part of the reason for spacing is to use sleep as save checkpoints
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=experts-short-term-
memory-to-long-term
Another reason is that for most people proper encoding and retrieval ofinformation takes time to achieve.
Cramming for a test is like a boxer cramming training before a fight. The
muscles (brain) needs time to configure itself.
What psychologists say:
1) Spacing may allow you to relate the material to more environmental cues,
which gives you more ways to retrieve the material.
2) The process of learning, forgetting, and relearning is very effective in terms of
getting information into long term memory
3) Cramming can be good for some people to pass tests, but cramming is not
very effective for storing information into long term memory.
4) Regardless of the reason, spaced studying has been shown in experiments toresult in better performance than cramming.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
48/70
Studying Strategies: distributing
study lessons One possible spacing:
1) Review material right after class (priority
is to understand it, form properassociations,
encode to long term memory)
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
49/70
Studying Strategies: distributing
study lessons Encoding means actually receiving and
processing the information. Many times this
takes conscious effort (i.e. you have to beawake and paying attention).
The amount of time encoding takes varies
by the person. Some people understand aconcept when it is explained in class. Others
have to go home and review it.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
50/70
Studying Strategies: distributing
study lessons2) Right after encoding you can then try to
store information in long term memory
through repetition
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
51/70
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
52/70
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
53/70
Retrieval
Retrieval is the calling back of stored information in
response to some cue.
The number of retrieval practice sessions necessary for a
good grade varies by the person. For some one practice
session is enough. Others need a few more.
When practicing retrieval, its important not to have a
cheat sheet in front of you. Retrieval is only truly practiced
when you are relying only one your brain to recallsomething and are not glancing at the book, notes, or cheat
sheet.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
54/70
Studying strategies: distributing
study lessons Find your own optimal study routine! In
other words, find out how much time you
need forencoding, storage, and retrieval.Your test results will help tell you if youve
found your system.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
55/70
Studying strategies: distributing
study lessons A good indicator of if youve studied enough before a test
is how good you are at retrieval of the things being tested.
Remember the tests do not always test for only
memorization. Many exams, especially those you see in
college, will require fluid intelligence (application of the
things you memorized to new situations).
I will give you questions in class and for homework to
help practice fluid intelligence.
Developing your study routine is like developing your
character strategy in a role playing game. You have to
know your capabilities and limits and take them into
account when formulating your study plan.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
56/70
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
57/70
Studying Strategies: Memorizing
Techniques Proper technique in memorization is important! If youre trying hard, but are
just processing information at a very low level, then you probably wont
memorize what youre trying to memorize.
Saying the definition over and over again is an example of low level
processing.
Connecting words because they sound about the same is an example of
medium level processing
Forming any type of connections to other knowledge is an example of higher
level processing. This is why, in class, after teaching you some facts I will try
and always ask a question that requires you to apply the concept. Learning facts is like doing layup and shooting drills in basketball. In
basketball you know youve mastered the drills when you can perform them in
game. In the same way, you know youve mastered the facts when you can
apply them to solve real world questions.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
58/70
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
59/70
Studying Strategies: Memorizing
Techniques Step 1: Understand the definition. Its a lot
harder to memorize something you
completely dont understand. If you dontknow what algae or cyanobacteria are,
google them to get a quick idea.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
60/70
Studying Strategies: Memorizing
Techniques Step 2: Try to find some connection
between how chlorophyll sounds and the
definition. Chlorophyll ends with fill.Plants are filled with this green pigment.
The idea is that you see the definition,
which kinda says that plants are filledwith the stuff. Hopefully fill will then
remind you of phyll which then reminds
you of chlorophyll.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
61/70
Studying Strategies: Memorizing
Techniques Step 2: This is more of a medium
processing approach.
When you start to get a feel for the word
start using high processing (make
connections).
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
62/70
Studying Strategies: Memorizing
Techniques With time and use, the word chlorophyll
should be stored in your long term memory.
At this point, you may not need to rely asmuch on remembering that plants are
filled with the pigment to remember
chlorophyll.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
63/70
Studying Strategies: Memorizing
Techniques Example #2: How would you try and
memorize the following?:
Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family,
genus, and species
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
64/70
Studying Strategies: Memorizing
Techniques Example Sentence: King Phillip crossed
the ocean to find gold and silver.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
65/70
Studying Strategies: Memorizing
Techniques Step 1: Come up with a sentence that uses
words that start with the same letters the
words in the list start with.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
66/70
Studying Strategies: Memorizing
Techniques Step 2: Memorize the sentence. Use the
sentence to remember the first letter of each
word of the list to help you remember eachword in the list.
(This approach is also more medium
processing based)
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
67/70
Studying Strategies: Memorizing
Techniques With time and use the list should be stored
in your long term memory.
Assuming you forget the list from not using
it, it should at least be easier to remember if
you ever have to learn it again in the future
(Research seems to support this, can checkout link on next slide)
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
68/70
Relearning
http://www.labspaces.net/93196/Forgotten_but_no
t_gone____how_the_brain_takes_care_of_things
It basically says that many of the changes thatoccur to the brain during learning stays even after
forgetting. Relearning is easier because the brain
just has to reactivate these pathways, not create
new ones.
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
69/70
-
8/3/2019 Learning Like a Boss
70/70