Dr. Regan Gurung conducts health psychological and social psychological research on cultural differences in stress, social support, smoking cessation, body image and impression formation. He has also received numerous teaching awards, organized teaching conferences, and served on many different committees and executive boards with teaching organizations. For more information about Regan and the work that he does, see his website or TED talk.
Hocus Focus
From a cognitive psychologist’s point of view, these results are particularly impressive because they demonstrate transfer. There are a number of training tools that are marketed as improving mental processes. While a number of these show improvement on the training task itself, very few show improvement on things outside of the task (4). In other words: if you do a sudoku puzzle every day you’ll get very good at sudoku, but nothing else. In contrast, several studies have shown that meditation and mindfulness training have shown improvement on attention tasks that are very different from the training task (1, 5).
So should every student get training in mindfulness? Maybe! I think it’s important to note that the mindfulness training in this experiment followed a pretty structured regimen. The researchers also noted that the classes were taught by professionals. Therefore it is important to carefully evaluate any program that claims to improve cognitive performance to make sure it isn’t just a bunch of hocus focus.
(1) Mrazek, M. D., Franklin, M. S., Phillips, D. T., Baird, B., & Schooler, J. W. (2013). Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory Capacity and GRE Performance While Reducing Mind Wandering. Psychological Science, 24(5), 776–781. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612459659
(2) Brefczynski-Lewis, J. A., Lutz, A., Schaefer, H. S., Levinson, D. B., Davidson, R. J. (2007). Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 104, 11483–11488. doi:10.1073/pnas.0606552104
(3) Chambers, R., Lo, B. C. Y., Allen, N. B. (2008). The impact of intensive mindfulness training on attentional control, cognitive style, and affect. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 32, 303–322.
(4) Sala, G., & Gobet, F. (2017). Does far transfer exist? Negative evidence from chess, music, and working memory training. Current Directions in Psychological Science. Online First Publication. DOI: 10.1177/0963721417712760
(5) Hodgins, H. S., & Adair, K. C. (2010). Attentional processes and meditation. Consciousness and Cognition, 19(4), 872-878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2010.04.002
Weekly Digest #129: Students Under Stress
When one of our very first guest bloggers reached out to us recently asking about resources for students under severe stress, we realized that we hadn’t broached this issue on our blog yet. This hugely important issues will take more than a quick digest to explore, so expect more on this topic in the future. Stress can come in many forms, but can be severely exacerbated from lack of access to essential resources such as food, money, and health services. In this digest, we mainly set the scene with respect to the problems many students are facing; in later digests and posts, we hope to provide more resources for interventions or strategies that have helped.
Do You Worry About Your Digital Privacy?
How concerned are you about your digital privacy? To the best of your knowledge, has your online privacy ever been breached or compromised?
In the article “In a Stumble for Apple, a FaceTime Bug Lets iPhone Users Eavesdrop,” Brian X. Chen writes:
The iPhone as an eavesdropping device? Watch out. It can happen.
On Monday, Twitter and other social networking sites lit up with anxious Apple users after the news site 9to5Mac reported on a strange glitch in the company’s iPhones. The issue: It turns out that an iPhone user can call another iPhone user and listen in on that person’s conversations through the device’s microphone — even if the recipient does not answer the call.
The problem was the result of a bug and involves Apple’s FaceTime app for placing video and audio calls over an internet connection. The bug could also give a caller access to a live feed of the recipient’s camera.
On Monday night, Apple said it had disabled Group FaceTime, the feature that was causing the glitch.
The glitch is embarrassing for Apple, which is set to report disappointing financial earnings on Tuesday. The Silicon Valley company has long positioned itself as a protector of user privacy offering more secure devices than its rivals.
Students, read the entire article, then tell us:
— How safe is your privacy in the age of digital technology?
— Have you ever used FaceTime? If yes, how concerned are you that someone might have been eavesdropping?
— The FaceTime glitch is one of many recent digital privacy breaches that have come to light. We have learned that game and cellphone apps have gathered data on users that has been shared with advertisers and online tracking companies. Facebook disclosed that it has given access to user information to major tech companies, including Yahoo and Netflix. How big a problem is digital privacy and security? Will these and other recent revelations change your tech behavior? Why or why not?
— How much do you trust tech companies with your private information? Should tech companies do more to protect our privacy? Or does the responsibility fall to users?
— Should the government do more to regulate digital privacy? Or do you worry that more government regulation will stifle innovation in the tech industry?
Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.
Holiday Recipes
What foods do you cook and eat to celebrate your favorite holidays? How do you make them? What memories and feelings does preparing these dishes bring up for you?
Tell us in the comments, then read the related article about the banh chung — or rice cakes — Vietnamese people make to celebrate Lunar New Year.
Find many more ways to use our Picture Prompt feature in this lesson plan.
Word + Quiz: plenary
Note: Our Sixth Annual 15-Second Vocabulary Video Challenge is underway. It will run until Feb. 18.
plenary ˈple-nə-rē also ˈplē- adjective
1. full in all respects
2. of or pertaining to a meeting attended by all participants of a conference
_________
The word plenary has appeared in 14 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Oct. 26 in “Vatican Faces Modern-Day Suffragists, Demanding Right to Vote” by Elisabetta Povoledo:
Vatican synods are held every few years. Women have emerged as a major concern of this one, which opened earlier this month and focuses on how the church can better minister to today’s youth in an era of emptying pews.
“The presence of women in the church, the role of women in the church,” has been repeatedly raised, in the synod’s plenary meeting and within smaller working groups, said Sister Sally Marie Hodgdon, the superior general of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery, and a synod participant. “The youth bring it up, as have some of the bishops and cardinals.”
_________
What Students Are Saying About: How to Treat Robots, Being Resilient and ‘Ghosting’
The risk of embarrassing ourselves further prevents most people from communicating their failures but communicating them can be beneficial. Not only can it ease our worries about our failures but it can also strengthen the bond between our friends and classmates. Our failures are the cornerstones of our personalities. Without failure we learn nothing. But the way we retaliate from our failures is a choice the reflects the way we go about our lives. Do we hide in the shadows, waiting for them to pass or do we face them head on, fearlessly.
— Sam Martin, Hoggard High School, Wilmington, NC
When I was ten years old, my father accidentally overdosed and passed away very unexpectedly; I questioned “Why me?” “How is this possibly in God’s plan?” and “Why so soon?” for many years. But, eventually I realized that the resilience my father carried was admirable and was my driving force to quit dwelling on him being home but to celebrate his time here. Not only do I believe that resilience is necessary but I also realize that becoming resilient is difficult. Dwelling is the easier road; but, resilience is the right road.
— Truli Bates, Bryant, Arkansas, Bryant, Arkansas
I tend to be fairly resilient when it comes to dealing with embarrassing failures because I usually forget about these incidents a few days later. However, this past October, I dealt with too much failure. Not necessarily failure that makes you feel embarrassed, but failure that makes you feel disappointed and/or hopeless. By the end of the month I couldn’t hold myself together any longer and had a panic attack. During my panic attack I was in a state of extreme shock; I couldn’t speak, and I was shaking and sweating uncontrollably. The day after, I stopped eating and putting effort into my appearance. I gained a lot of acne due to the amount of stress I was dealing with, I never left my house unless absolutely necessary, dark circles formed under my eyes, my skin became more pale, and I physically became sick. I never really talked to anyone about my situation, because no one truly cared. Over time I was able to pull myself together and get my life at least partially back on track. I feel as though it is better to overcome obstacles alone because it make you stronger and prepares you for the next failure.
— Whitley Johnson, Hoggard Highschool, Wilmington NC
The challenge of admitting defeat and sharing your struggles
I would say that I am not a very resilient person. I try my best to produce perfect assignments and face all challenges with an open mind but sometimes, things do not go as expected and I am left with a feeling of failure. I agree with the article that when I do mess up, instead of learning from that experience, I try my best to cover it up or, forget about it completely. I admit that instead of talking about my mistakes, I try to internalize it so that I won’t look unprofessional or dramatic.
— Abbie, Hoggard High School, Wilmington, NC
Be resilient can be very difficult. I don’t really know how resilient I am. I’m someone who can be very sensitive. Where something hurts me a lot happens, very likely to cry, that’s the way I am. If I’m mad, sad, afraid or even exhausted, I will cry. Otherwise I’ll act like I don’t care, because I really don’t. I always try to act like I’m strong outside, in front of my family or my friends, and sometimes It works. The worst is when they understand that something is wrong, because at that moment I literally blow it.
How resilient am I? A very difficult question! Every situation is difficult to handle for example every failure, rejection … Most of the time I just try to forget or just keep smiling. All I do is cry behind this smile and try to act like I’m strong outside but in fact it’s just a mask and i’am weak and just need help. But i’am always positive and just keep breathing! And I think the best solution is to talk and stay strong because your not alone! Don’t forget to talk to your mother or your father or your dog
I consider myself resilient when dealing with obstacles or failure, but only in the moment. I tend to disregard problems when they arise, and somehow find a way to quickly get around them, or just ignore there is an issue all together. This works fine until my oblivion gets the best of me; and I find myself drowning in the challenges I once laughed off, however this time they are not as funny.
Learning With: ‘A Merciless Cold Lingers in the Midwest’
Before reading the article:
What’s the coldest weather you’ve ever experienced? What do you remember about how it felt?
Watch the video above, then imagine you are the mayor of a city like Chicago and that you know a few days in advance that historically cold temperatures are coming. How would you prepare? What specific services, businesses, industries and groups of people might need extra attention? Why?
Now, read the article, “A Merciless Cold Lingers in the Midwest,” and answer the following questions:
1. How low did temperatures drop across the Midwest this week? What happens after going gloveless for minute or two in conditions like these?
2. What were some of the services and businesses that were affected? How?
3. Why do some experts think these low temperatures may be the result of global warming?
4. How did schools across the region handle the cold?
5. What is a “frost quake” and what does it sound like?
Finally, tell us more about what you think:
Do you understand the science behind the polar vortex?
Take a look at these images and graphics that explain the dangerously cold winds.
Once you’ve read the full piece, challenge yourself: how would you explain the polar vortex to a second grader?
The best quotes about leadership
Building self-confidence is the key to Leadership. When in sixth grade, my shy, soft-spoken, niece Katie approached me and asked me the best way how to learn to speak and write Japanese to add captions to her Japanese action cartoon characters that she liked to draw. I told her to take and learn martial arts. Taking martial arts over the next six years, Katie built her martial arts proficiency and self-confidence to do anything that she decided to do and it helped her excel in both her school studies and other outside extracurricular activities. As a result, she has become a super-achiever leader… way, way beyond most women her own age.
8 of the best Spanish Idioms
No se pueden pedirle peras al olmo
you cannot ask an elm for pears
In short: you cannot ask the impossible.
Si mi abuela tuviera ruedas seria una bicicleta
If my grandmother had wheels, she’d be a bicycle
This means if things happened differently, they would be different, so it’s silly to even suggest it.
Pájaro que comió, voló
bird that ate, bird that flew
A lovely phrase we don’t really have an English version of – it means a person who eats and then rushes off.
Al pan pan, y al vino vino
call bread bread, wine wine
A much more appetising way of saying call a spade a spade, as in to state something exactly as it is.
Mucho ruido y pocas nueces
a lot of noise, and very few nuts.
Meaning a lot of fuss, not much actual action. There could be a few English versions of this – much ado about nothing, or maybe all mouth no trousers are two contenders.
Al mal tiempo buena cara
To bad weather good face
This means if life gets tough, stay happy – a bit like the English if life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Poco a poco
little by little
The English equivalent might be ‘one step at a time’.
Más perdido que un pulpo en un garaje
More lost than an octopus in a garage.
We saved the best until last – this phrase means to not have a clue.
Explore more Spanish with an online program of flexible Spanish Courses and soon you’ll be using these phrases like a native. And remember to add any Spanish idioms you’ve come across in the comments – we’d love to see them.
