Cognitive development Archives | For Happy Baby

Talking to babies: How face-to-face communication helps infants “tune in”…and mirror our brain activity

Apr 29, 2023

© 2018 – 2023 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved #author-byline-block_4225c754736f614aee38585050f499a8 .author-byline-text{ font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); } How do children learn the secret of good communication? It can’t be too easy, because the world is rife with misunderstandings and crossed signals. Too often, people go through the motions...

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For Happy Baby Baby communication: Why your baby prefers infant-directed speech https://www.forhappybaby.com/baby-communication-why-your-baby-prefers-infant-directed-speech/

Baby communication: Why your baby prefers infant-directed speech

Apr 25, 2023

© 2008 – 2023 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved #author-byline-block_74de783b4312e7f533d0c00c9213a11e .author-byline-text{ font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); } Babies learn to communicate through eye contact, gestures, and affectionate touch. But when it comes to grabbing a baby’s attention — and helping a baby “crack the code” of spoken language...

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Naps help babies learn and remember

Apr 15, 2023

© 2023 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved #author-byline-block_6b3d96797f05567e66fc58bf3bca74af .author-byline-text{ font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); } Naps help babies learn and remember. In fact, babies may require timely naps to transfer new information and skills into long-term memory. Does this mean we should be forcing our babies to take...

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Observational fear learning in children: How kids can “catch” a fright

Mar 18, 2023

© 2023 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved #author-byline-block_fe8409d616072aadbc26011da97ba94d .author-byline-text{ font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); } Observational fear learning, sometimes called “observational threat learning,” is what happens when we use social cues to identify something as threatening or dangerous. Can children learn in this way? Absolutely. In fact, it’s...

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The social and cognitive benefits of play: Effects on the learning brain

Jan 20, 2023

© 2008 – 2023 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved #author-byline-block_fa8928d6cdf63d7d6ad938367ac0d883 .author-byline-text{ font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); } Science supports many of our intuitions about the emotional and cognitive benefits of play. Playful behavior appears to have positive effects on the brain and on a child’s ability to learn. Want specifics?...

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The benefits of fantasy fiction and imaginative play

Jan 13, 2023

© 2019 – 2023 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved #author-byline-block_fff5c29951ef49f38e6338a61c224515 .author-byline-text{ font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); } Fantasy has ancient roots, but it gets a bad rap. Some worry that fantasy fiction may confuse young children. Others dismiss fantasy as silly or frivolous. Should kids steer clear of...

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Educational games and toys for kids: Are they effective?

Dec 30, 2022

© 2010-2022 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved #author-byline-block_b4187306e91512f3959b29c621d25340 .author-byline-text{ font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); } Developmental toys and educational games for kids are relatively recent inventions. Do they work? Throughout most of human history, children got little or no formal instruction. Instead, they learned by imitation, and by...

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Why toy blocks rock: The science of construction play

Dec 4, 2022

© 2008 – 2022 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved #author-byline-block_9b6098fb86bae8ab54c9f1af5bcd649d .author-byline-text{ font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); } Toy blocks, also called “building blocks,” are solid shapes used for construction play. Some are simple planks made of wood. Others are fancier, like the interlocking bricks of plastic made by LEGO...

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Can preschool board games boost mathematics skills?

Sep 7, 2022

Studies suggest the answer is yes…if the game has these particular features. © 2008 – 2022 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved #author-byline-block_63179b880f58e .author-byline-text{ font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); } You might not expect much from a preschool board game. Players roll dice, or spin a spinner, and move...

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The Mozart effect: The truth behind the claims

Jul 27, 2022

© 2009 – 2022 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved #author-byline-block_6230dcd5b3d75 .author-byline-text{ font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); } What is “the Mozart effect”? In the popular culture, “the Mozart effect” refers to the claim that listening to Mozart’s music can increase your general intelligence, or IQ. In the scientific community,...

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How to support language development in babies

Jun 15, 2022

© 2022 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved #author-byline-block_62a9170e126ce .author-byline-text{ font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); } Babies possess amazing learning abilities. But to master language, they need our help. Studies suggest we can support language development by engaging babies in conversation, and by providing them with a variety of...

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Can musical training help babies learn language?

Jun 8, 2022

© 2022 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved #author-byline-block_629ffc4006161 .author-byline-text{ font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); } If you think about it, music and spoken language have a lot in common. They both use tones and rhythms. And studies indicate that there is some overlap in the ways that the...

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When do babies say their first word?

Jun 1, 2022

© 2018 – 2022 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved #author-byline-block_628e8d310b009 .author-byline-text{ font-size: 16px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); } Babies make lots of communicative noises, but coos, gurgles, and cries aren’t true speech. When do babies say their first words? Most babies can say at least one or two words...

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How do babies respond to music in the womb?

Aug 27, 2021

© 2021 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved Music in the womb? It’s become an almost cartoonish cliché of modern pregnancy — a pregnant mother-to-be playing tunes for her unborn baby. But is this really a thing? Do fetuses actually respond to music? Will they remember any of it later?...

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The social world of newborns: Why babies are born to learn from our sensitive, loving care

Aug 10, 2021

© 2021 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved Yes, newborns spend most of their time sleeping and eating. But babies are more than mere survival machines. At birth, they are primed and ready for social input, and our loving care has profound effects on their development. Decades ago, people underestimated...

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Lack of math education may shortchange a teenager’s developing brain

Jul 20, 2021

© 2021 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved Some teens study lots of math. Others avoid it. Does it make a difference? Yes, and not only to career prospects. New research suggests it might also affect brain chemistry, and the way that students learn. How many years of math should...

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Video games and attention: Gaming enhances some attention skills, and hinders others

Jun 29, 2021

© 2021 Gwen Dewar, all rights reserved What’s the connection between video games and attention? Do video games cause attention problems? Or do they help children focus? It seems that both are true. Certain “action” video games can enhance a variety of visual attention skills, and they may even help...

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The effects of television on learning to speak: Is it helpful or harmful?

May 12, 2021

© 2009 – 2021 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved What are the effects of television on language learning? Studies report a link between TV and language development in young children. The more time kids spend watching television, the more slowly they learn to talk. What’s going on? Some people...

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Teaching critical thinking: The first step is to pause and reflect

Jan 22, 2021

© 2021 Gwen Dewar, all rights reserved Why do we fall for fallacies? Why do we get duped by lies? It isn’t because we lack brain power, and it isn’t because we are helpless to overcome our own biases. Instead, what’s really crucial is whether we take the time to...

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