Science Daily is among PC Magazine’s top 100 websites of 2009 and I’ve found out that there are a number of articles on learning and language acquisition in it.
Research has shown that 8-year olds learn differently than 12-year olds. At the age of eight, children learn from positive feedback and do not react to negative feedback – it seems they cannot process it and use it to learn from their mistakes. Learning from mistakes is believed to be a complex process. However, it is also know that it is the basal ganglia that reacts to positive feedback and that its activity does not change with age. Obviously positive feedback is important to us all. And as an even more recent research shows, positive feedback makes it more likely that the thing we learn next will be successful too.
Of course this has implications for teaching and parenting as well. And another useful bit: children learn better if they can explain what they’ve learnt to their parents even when parents don’t know a thing about the subject discussed. Mere listening does the trick because it is the act of explaining that helps the child and the fact that they are listened to. Good to know.
Filed under: Education
