Focused versus Diffuse Thinking

Reading: Focused versus Diffuse Thinking

Only dip in to read what is of interest to you - these readings are entirely optional.

Chapters 1-3 of A Mind for Numbers are especially helpful in providing helpful information and additional exercises related to the materials of Module 1.

Worthwhile Additional Popular Works

• Scott Young, "I was wrong about speed reading: Here are the facts," January 2015. This excellent blog post nicely summarizes what is known in relation to speed reading.
• John Dunlosky, "Strengthening the Student Toolbox: Study Strategies to Boost Learning," American Educator, Fall, 2013. This excellent, comprehensive article is written by one of the top researchers in learning. 
• Michael Friedman, "Note-taking tools and tips," (October 15, 2014), Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching. This article, and an article embedded within it, ("Notes on Note-Taking: Review of Research and Insights for Students and Instructors"), have very useful insights into how to improve your note taking.
• Maria Konnikova. (January 11, 2014), "Goodnight. Sleep Clean," The New York Times.
• John Hamilton. (October 17, 2013). "Brains Sweep Themselves Clean of Toxins During Sleep." NPR All Things Considered.
• Mind Tools, "The Pomodoro Technique® Staying Focused Throughout the Day." 
• Anne Trafton. (July 21, 2014), "Try, try again? Study says no: Trying harder makes it more difficult to learn some aspects of language, neuroscientists find." Science Daily.
• Richard C. Mohs. "How Human Memory Works." How Stuff Works. Notice that what Dr. Mohs calls "short term memory" in his excellent article is almost the same as "working memory." Also, Dr. Mohs retains the "seven slots" theory of working memory--researchers still differ in their perspectives about this.
• James Morehead (June 19, 2012). "Stanford University’s Carol Dweck on the Growth Mindset and Education."OneDublin.org.
• Gretchen Reynolds. (April 30, 2014). "Want to be More Creative? Take a Walk." The New York Times.
• Ferris Jabr, (September 3, 2014). "Why Walking Helps Us Think." The New Yorker.
• Brigid Schulte, (May 16, 2014). "For a more productive life, daydream."  CNN Opinion.
• Robert Wright, (April 21, 2012). "How to Break the Procrastination Habit" The Atlantic. (Charles Duhigg's book,The Power of Habit, which is mentioned in the article, is also great!)
• Daniel J. Levitin, (August 9, 2014), "Hit the Reset Button in Your Brain,"  The New York Times.
• Charlie Tyson, (August 14, 2014), "Failure to Replicate,"  Inside Higher Ed. This is a very interesting overview article about the state of affairs in education research.
• Pam Harrison, (September 8, 2014), "Sleep on It: Sleep Consolidates Memory of New Motor Task," Medscape. Although this article deals with motor tasks, there are obvious implications related to the importance of sleep in consolidating other areas in learning. (You'll need to join to read the article, but it's free.)
• National Numeracy. A website by an independent charity that is devoted to helping every person in the UK to reach a level of numeracy skills that allow them to meet their full potential.

More Recent Research

• Boyce, Richard et al. "Causal evidence for the role of REM sleep theta rhythm in contextual memory consolidation." Science 352, 6287 (2016): 812-816.

Video References

Video: Introduction to the Focused and Diffuse Modes

• Andrews-Hanna, J.R. "The Brain's Default Network and Its Adaptive Role in Internal Mentation." Neuroscientist18, no. 3 (Jun 2012): 251-70.
• Immordino-Yang, M. H., J. A. Christodoulou, and V. Singh. "Rest Is Not Idleness: Implications of the Brain's Default Mode for Human Development and Education." Perspectives on Psychological Science 7, no. 4 (2012): 352-64.
• Moussa MN, Steen MR, Laurienti PJ, Hayasaka S (2012) “Consistency of Network Modules in Resting-State fMRI Connectome Data.” PLoS ONE 7(8): e44428. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0044428.
• Raichle, Marcus E, and Abraham Z Snyder. "A Default Mode of Brain Function: A Brief History of an Evolving Idea." NeuroImage 37, no. 4 (2007): 1083-90.

Video: Using the Focused and Diffuse Modes: (Or, a little Dalí will do ya)

• Dali, Salvador. Fifty Secrets of Magic Craftsmanship. Dover, 1948 (reprint 1992). 
• Root-Bernstein, Robert S., and Michelle M. Root-Bernstein. Sparks of Genius. NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1999.
• Takeuchi, H., Y. Taki, H. Hashizume, Y. Sassa, T. Nagase, R. Nouchi, and R. Kawashima. "The Association between Resting Functional Connectivity and Creativity." Cerebral Cortex 22, no. 12 (Jan 10 2012): 2921-29.

Video: What is Learning?

• Michael D. Fox and Michael Greicius, Clinical applications of resting state functional connectivity , Front. Syst. Neurosci., 16 June 2010.
• Fox, M. D., Corbetta, M., Snyder, A. Z., Vincent, J. L., and Raichle, M. E. (2006a). Spontaneous neuronal activity distinguishes human dorsal and ventral attention systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A.103, 10046–10051.
• Fox M. D., Snyder A. Z., Vincent J. L., Corbetta M., Van Essen D. C., Raichle M. E. (2005). The human brain is intrinsically organized into dynamic, anticorrelated functional networks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. 102, 9673–967810.1073/pnas.0504136102.
• Guang Yang et al. Sleep promotes branch-specific formation of dendritic spines after learning, Science 344, 1173 (2014).

Video: A Procrastination Preview

• Boice, Robert. Procrastination and Blocking. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996.
• Lyons, I.M., and S.L. Beilock. "When Math Hurts: Math Anxiety Predicts Pain Network Activation in Anticipation of Doing Math." PLoS ONE 7, no. 10 (2012): e48076.
• Steel, Piers. The Procrastination Equation. NY: Random House, 2010.
• Steel, Piers. "The Nature of Procrastination: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review of Quintessential Self-Regulatory Failure." Psychological Bulletin 133, no. 1 (Jan 2007): 65-94.
• Tuckman, Bruce W., and Henri C. Schouwenburg. "Behavioral Interventions for Reducing Procrastination among University Students." In Counseling the Procrastinator in Academic Settings, edited by H.C. Schouwenburg, CH Lay, TA Pychyl and JR Ferrari Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2004.

Video: Practice Makes Permanent

• Brown, J.S., A. Collins, and P. Duguid."Situated Cognition and the Culture of Learning." Educational Researcher 18, no. 1 (1989): 32-42.
• Dunlosky, John, Katherine A Rawson, Elizabeth J Marsh, Mitchell J Nathan, and Daniel T Willingham. "Improving Students’ Learning with Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions from Cognitive and Educational Psychology." Psychological Science in the Public Interest 14, no. 1 (2013): 4-58.
• Ericsson, Karl Anders. Development of Professional Expertise. NY: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
• Geary, David C. The Origin of Mind. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2005.
• Geary, David C, A Wade Boykin, Susan Embretson, Valerie Reyna, Robert Siegler, Daniel B Berch, and J Graban. "Task Group Reports of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel; Chapter 4: Report of the Task Group on Learning Processes." In, (2008): 2008. http://www2.ed.gov/about/bdscomm/list/mathpanel/report/learning-processes.pdf.
• Guida, A., F. Gobet, H. Tardieu, and S. Nicolas. "How Chunks, Long-Term Working Memory and Templates Offer a Cognitive Explanation for Neuroimaging Data on Expertise Acquisition: A Two-Stage Framework." Brain and Cognition 79, no. 3 (Aug 2012): 221-44.
• Karpicke, Jeffrey D. "Retrieval-Based Learning Active Retrieval Promotes Meaningful Learning." Current Directions in Psychological Science 21, no. 3 (2012): 157-63.
• Karpicke, Jeffrey D, and Phillip J Grimaldi. "Retrieval-Based Learning: A Perspective for Enhancing Meaningful Learning." Educational Psychology Review 24, no. 3 (2012): 401-18.
• Karpicke, Jeffrey D, and Henry L Roediger. "The Critical Importance of Retrieval for Learning." Science 319, no. 5865 (2008): 966-68.
• Karpicke, Jeffrey D, Andrew C Butler, and Henry L Roediger III. "Metacognitive Strategies in Student Learning: Do Students Practice Retrieval When They Study on Their Own?". Memory 17, no. 4 (2009): 471-79.
• Karpicke, J. D., and J. R. Blunt. "Retrieval Practice Produces More Learning Than Elaborative Studying with Concept Mapping." Science 331, no. 6018 (Feb 11 2011): 772-5.
• Karpicke, J.D., and J.R. Blunt. "Response to Comment on 'Retrieval Practice Produces More Learning Than Elaborative Studying with Concept Mapping'." Science 334, no. 6055 (2011): 453-53.
• Kornell, Nate, Matthew Jensen Hays, and Robert A Bjork. "Unsuccessful Retrieval Attempts Enhance Subsequent Learning." Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 35, no. 4 (2009): 989.
• Kornell, N., A. D. Castel, T. S. Eich, and R. A. Bjork. "Spacing as the Friend of Both Memory and Induction in Young and Older Adults." Psychology and Aging 25, no. 2 (Jun 2010): 498-503.
• McDaniel, M. A., and A. A. Callender. "Cognition, Memory, and Education." In Cognitive Psychology of Memory, Vol 2 of Learning and Memory, edited by Henry L Roediger. 819-43. Oxford, UK: Elsevier, 2008.
• Roediger, Henry L., and Mary A. Pyc. "Inexpensive Techniques to Improve Education: Applying Cognitive Psychology to Enhance Educational Practice." Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition 1, no. 4 (2012): 242-48.
• Roediger, Henry L, and Andrew C Butler. "The Critical Role of Retrieval Practice in Long-Term Retention." Trends in Cognitive Sciences 15, no. 1 (2011): 20-27.
• Roediger, Henry L, and Jeffrey D Karpicke. "The Power of Testing Memory: Basic Research and Implications for Educational Practice." Perspectives on Psychological Science 1, no. 3 (2006): 181-210.
• Rohrer, Doug, and Harold Pashler. "Increasing Retention without Increasing Study Time." Current Directions in Psychological Science 16, no. 4 (2007): 183-86.
• Taylor, Kelli, and Doug Rohrer. "The Effects of Interleaved Practice." Applied Cognitive Psychology 24, no. 6 (2010): 837-48.
• See also extensive endnote references and discussions in Chapters 2 and 3, A Mind for Numbers, Barbara Oakley, Penguin, 2014.

Video: Introduction to Memory

• Baddeley, A., Eysenck, M. W., & Anderson, M. C. (2009). Memory. NY: Psychology Press.
• Carpenter, S. K., Cepeda, N. J., Rohrer, D., Kang, S. H. K., & Pashler, H. (2012). Using spacing to enhance diverse forms of learning: Review of recent research and implications for instruction. Educational Psychology Review, 24(3), 369-378. doi: 10.1007/s10648-012-9205-z
• Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term memory: A reconsideration of mental storage capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24(1), 87-114. 
• Dudai, Y. (2004). The neurobiology of consolidations, or, how stable is the engram? Annual Review of Psychology, 55, 51-86. 
• Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4-58. 
• Guida, A., Gobet, F., Tardieu, H., & Nicolas, S. (2012). How chunks, long-term working memory and templates offer a cognitive explanation for neuroimaging data on expertise acquisition: A two-stage framework. Brain and Cognition, 79(3), 221-244. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2012.01.010
• Rawson, K. A., & Dunlosky, J. (2011). Optimizing schedules of retrieval practice for durable and efficient learning: How much is enough? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 140(3), 283. 
• Rohrer, Doug, Robert F. Dedrick, and Kaleena Burgess. "The Benefit of Interleaved Mathematics Practice Is Not Limited to Superficially Similar Kinds of Problems." Psychonomic Bulletin & Review in press (2013).
• Rohrer, D., & Pashler, H. (2010). Recent research on human learning challenges conventional instructional strategies. Educational Researcher, 39(5), 406-412. 

Video: The Importance of Sleep in Learning

• Djonlagic, I., A. Rosenfeld, D. Shohamy, C. Myers, M. Gluck, and R. Stickgold. "Sleep Enhances Category Learning." Learning & Memory 16, no. 12 (Dec 2009): 751-5.
• Durrant, Simon J., Scott A. Cairney, and Penelope A. Lewis. "Overnight consolidation aids the transfer of statistical knowledge from the medial temporal lobe to the striatum." Cerebral Cortex 23.10 (2013): 2467-2478.
• Eichenbaum, H. "To Sleep, Perchance to Integrate." PNAS, 104, no. 18 (May 1 2007): 7317-8.
• Ellenbogen, J.M., P.T. Hu, J.D. Payne, D. Titone, and M.P. Walker. "Human Relational Memory Requires Time and Sleep." PNAS, 104, no. 18 (2007): 7723-28.
• Erlacher, Daniel, and Michael Schredl. "Practicing a Motor Task in a Lucid Dream Enhances Subsequent Performance: A Pilot Study." The Sport Psychologist, 24, no. 2 (2010): 157-67.
• Moss, R. The Secret History of Dreaming.  Novato, CA: New World Library, 2008.
• Scullin, M. K., and M. A. McDaniel. "Remembering to Execute a Goal: Sleep on It!" Psychological Science 21, no. 7 (Jul 2010): 1028-35.
• Stickgold, Robert, and Jeffrey M Ellenbogen. "Quiet! Sleeping Brain at Work." Scientific American Mind 19, no. 4 (2008): 22-29.
• Wamsley, Erin J., Matthew Tucker, Jessica D. Payne, Joseph A. Benavides, and Robert Stickgold. "Dreaming of a Learning Task Is Associated with Enhanced Sleep-Dependent Memory Consolidation." Current Biology, 20, no. 9 (2010): 850-55.
• Xie, Lulu, Hongyi Kang, Qiwu Xu, Michael J Chen, Yonghong Liao, Meenakshisundaram Thiyagarajan, John O’Donnell, et al. "Sleep Drives Metabolite Clearance from the Adult Brain." Science, 342, no. 6156 (2013): 373-77.

In Video Questions

Here's a pdf of the questions and answers found in the videos.