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Metacognitive Illusions & The Font Size Effect
Have you ever done your assigned reading and thought, “I’ll definitely remember this, it’s in HUGE, BOLD LETTERS” and then failed to recall anything on your quiz the next day? This feeling of disconnect between what we think we know and what we actually know can be explained by the human ability to monitor and…
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Analogy-Based Learning in the Classroom: Implementing Strategies to Promote Conceptual Understanding and Performance
In this article, I discuss four principles of analogy-based learning and teaching in the classroom that are crucial for students’ success in analogical reasoning.
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What Neural Networks Put Second: Categorization Models as a Window into the Nature of Memory
What do older cognitive models of categorization tell us about memory that state-of-the-art neural networks do not? The difference between past and present is not just one of performance, but also of psychological insight.
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It’s Okay to Fail: How Productive Failure Facilitates STEM Learning and Transfer in Comparison to Direct Instruction
What role does failure play in learning? While students tend to be aversive to failure, it plays a natural and important role in the learning process.
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Sans Forgetica: Could a font boost your studying?
An investigation into the effectiveness of Sans Forgetica, a font created to be intentionally difficult to read to engage readers and potentially improve recall ability.
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Learning from Emotions in Infancy
Early in life, learning about emotions is an important skill to develop. As early as infancy, the ability to interpret others’ emotions can be used to learn about various aspects of the surrounding world.
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@B.F.SkinnyMan: Why B.F. Skinner Would Love Food Snapchats and Instagram Fitness Culture
Our brains haven’t evolved to reward us for eating healthy foods or exercising. Can we engineer our own positive feedback loops to promote these behaviors using social media?
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Let’s fight (the bad guys): Do superheroes teach kids good or evil?
Everyone loves a good superhero story. Superheroes have been a fixture in American pop culture for decades, but in the past 10-15 years we’ve witnessed a resurgence of superhero mania. Between movies, TV shows, toys, and even national conventions, the superhero fever is real. Given that superhero stories are characterized by themes of fighting against…
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Highlights of “Building Minds”
For those who missed “Building Minds: Microchips & Molecules”, here is a taste of the action. For all who packed the CNSI auditorium in May for our annual interdisciplinary symposium, here is a quick trip down memory lane. Enjoy! Gimzewski (’15 symposium) UCLA’s James Gimzewski cited Alan Turing in his talk describing his research on…
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Signal Detection: Decision Making in Uncertainty
We all experience uncertainty: How did I do on that test? What do they think of me? Where did I leave my keys? Is my phone ringing? In these and other uncertain situations, we have to take the evidence we have and make our best guess about the answer. Sometimes we’re right, and sometimes we’re…