Minds, Brains, and Learning ─ Understanding the Psychological and Education Relevance of Neuroscientific Research

Why should psychologists and educators study the brain? Can neuroscientific research advance our understanding of student learning and motivation? What do informed readers need to know to tell the difference between plausible applications of brain research and unfounded speculation? This timely volume considers the benefits of incorporating findings from cognitive neuroscience into the fields of educational, developmental, and cognitive psychology. The book provides a basic foundation in the methodology of brain research; describes the factors that affect brain development; and reviews salient findings on attention, memory, emotion, and reading and mathematics. For each domain, the author considers the ways that the neuroscientific evidence overlaps with or diverges from existing psychological models. Readers gain skills for assessing the credibility of widely publicized claims regarding critical periods of learning, the effects of stress hormones on the brain, the role of music training in boosting academic performance, and more. Also elucidated are the possible neuroscientific bases of attention deficits, reading problems, and mathematical disabilities in children. The volume concludes by suggesting areas for future investigation that may help answer important questions about individual and developmental differences in learning.

James P. Byrnes, PhD, is Professor of Human Development in the College of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he is affiliated with the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science program. He has published research in the areas of mathematics learning, decision making, language, deductive reasoning, gender differences in cognition, and ethnic differences in school achievement. He is former vice president of the Jean Piaget Society and serves on the editorial boards of a number of journals, including the Journal of Educational Psychology, Child Development, American Educational Research Journal, and theJournal of Cognition and Development.