How the nervous system encodes learning and memory processes has interested researchers for 100 years. Over this span of time, a number of basic neuroscience methods has been developed to explore the relationship between learning and the brain, including brain lesion, stimulation, pharmacology, anatomy, imaging, and recording techniques. In this…

Discussed are the theoretical explanations of the observation that low intelligence quotient (IQ), low socioeconomic status children appear to be brighter in certain ways than low IQ middle class youngsters. The two different theories on IQ as a function of socioeconomic status--environmental or cultural vs. genetically determined biological…

After intensively studying for several years the thinking processes of members of a tribal group in Western Africa, the Kpelle, the authors examine the relation between culture and cognitive development. The following issues are discussed: (1) an analysis of the terms "culture" and "cognition"; (2) an ethnographic description of the Kpelle…

Using current mind/brain research, this paper explores the "hidden curriculum" in the contexts of teaching, learning and supervision. It explains ways in which current research on the nature of learning can fit into today's typical, "clinical" teaching techniques. The importance of respecting individual modes of learning is stressed; further to…

A study explored the effectiveness of "rap music" as a method of instruction for urban preschool children. It was hypothesized that urban preschool children would learn more new content (10 unfamiliar names of body parts) in a classroom environment through the use of rap music for instruction, than would children who received instruction…

A practitioner's model of the processes of learning and knowing was developed through a review of global, societal, individual, and personal perspectives on learning. The first phase of the model's development consisted of using a method of exploration based on determining who, what, where, when, why, and how to investigate the following 10…