Neuromyths and Learning Styles

Common Misunderstandings About Learning and the Brain

• A small group of scientists study in detail how learning occurs in the brain, while the general population knows that children need to be taught.
• Teachers are enthusiastic about what cognitive psychology and neuroscience have to offer to education.
• Misunderstandings about learning and the brain often arise when information is taken out of context and condensed into simplified overgeneralizations.
• Neuromyths are common misunderstandings about the brain that start from a grain of truth.
• Two students in Yana’s lab identified ten most common misunderstandings about learning and the brain from 12 empirical papers.
• The belief that environments rich in stimuli improve the brains of pre-school children is a common misunderstanding.
• The idea of enriched environments for children may have come from a misapplication of studies performed in other species, such as rats.
• Overly decorated classrooms can lead to a decrease in learning relative to more sparsely decorated classrooms, due to potential for distraction.
• The belief that individuals have distinct learning styles is a common misunderstanding.
• The idea of learning styles may have originated from the concept of multiple intelligences, which suggests that individuals have different strengths in various areas.
• The belief that we only use 10% of our brain is a common misunderstanding.
• The belief that short bouts of co-ordination exercises can improve integration of the left and right hemispheres of the brain is a common misunderstanding.

Think you know all about learning and the brain? Test your knowledge with our quiz on common misunderstandings about how the brain works when it comes to learning. From neuromyths to misconceptions about learning styles, this quiz will challenge your assumptions and might just surprise you with some new information. So put your thinking cap on and take the quiz now!