The Proster Theory of the way the brain works and of the factors that favor or inhibit learning should be useful in designing educational programs that reliably provide huge gains in learning. (Author/IRT)

This article discusses past research on the hemispheric process of the brain, proposes an educational perspective based on this research, and lists several areas for interdisciplinary study of the relationship between education and the psychobiological dimensions of learning and learning problems. In developing an educational perspective of the…

Notes that a minimum list of criteria for the engram would include an eventual high correlation with learned changes in behavior, lack of necessary correlation with the stimuli, and absence of necessary correlation with the motor response (Performance). (Author/AM)

Traditional learning theories stress that people are either conditioned through reward and punishment or by close association with neutral or evocative stimuli. These direct experience theories do not account for people's learning complex behavior through observation. Attentional, retention, motoric reproduction, reinforcement, and motivational…

The basis of modern learning theory is questioned in view of Popper's philosophy and the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system. (Editor)

Describes the author's research on learning and brain activity, which involved more than 5,000 students and faculty members. Explores six stages of learning: (1) preparing to learn; (2) starting to learn; (3) consolidation; (4) branching out; (5) gaining fluency; and (6) continued improving. States that merging educational research with…

Ned Herrmann is interviewed regarding his latest theories on "applied creativity" and the design and delivery of "whole brain learning." He discusses the roles of the brain's two hemispheres, the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument, the importance of brain dominance to trainers, and the link between creativity and productivity.…

This book presents a comprehensive and detailed theory of early human development based on the principles of dynamic systems theory. It raises fundamental questions about prevailing assumptions in the field and proposes a new theory of the development of cognition and action, unifying recent advances in dynamic systems theory with current research…

A theory of memory is introduced, which seeks to respond to the shortcomings of existing theories based on metaphors. Memory is presented as a mechanism, a comparison process in which information held in some form of immediate storage (whether based on perception or previous cognition or both) is compared to previously stored long-term storage.…

Modern psychological theory implies that behavior and neural function are correlated. Models of the operation of the nervous system can be used to predict and explain behavioral events. The purposes of this paper are to briefly outline a model at the biopsychological level that leads to predictions about the retention of verbal material, to show…

A basic unsolved problem in science is that of understanding learning, the process by which people and machines use their experience in a situation to guide future action in similar situations. The ideas of Piaget, Pavlov, Hull, and other learning theorists, as well as previous heuristic programing models of human intelligence, stimulated this…

Researchers in medicine, education, and related fields continue to make new discoveries about how the brain functions or malfunctions. The implications of studies of how young children learn compare favorably with those of educators such as Maria Montessori, Jerome Bruner, and Jean Piaget. These researchers saw growth and development as a series…

Studies on learning in infants show that in infancy every month of life represents a new level of learning. The functional state of the central nervous system can be influenced by physiological factors which cause fluctuating changes in functions important for learning. Once a stimulus becomes a conditioned signal, it acquires strong power in…

The papers in this monograph were presented at the first annual conference on theories and research related to learning styles, hemisphericity, and other cognitive-related issues in education. They include: (1) "The Microcomputer and Learning Theory" (Carl Edeburn); (2) "Poems Take Two Brains (or: Poetry Ain't for Halfwits)" (Jack Kreitzer); (3)…

Research indicates that the brain grows in spurts occurring every two years or so and alternating with plateau periods in which the gains due to growth are consolidated. While the number of brain cells no longer increases after the age of about 18 months, substantial increases in the complexity of neural networks occur generally between the ages…