This weeks reading was focused on Foundational Theories Regarding Human Development. While going through the text I learned many things. One of the things I discovered was that learning is heavily influenced by ones’ cognitive development. While progressing through school I always assumed to do well one must study and that is all that must be done. However, after reading I have learned that factors such as mental and social well-being can influence how you learn long-term. Also, there were ‘common myths’ which I assumed to be true. One of the myths being “People use only 10% of your brain”. I knew that I used all of our brain but I assumed we could only access 10% of our potential, after researching I understand that is not the case. The other myth which I believed was that “Damage to the brain is permanent”. According to the reading people commonly recover from minor brain damages without long lasting effects.
Many of the practices in the reading I noticed in my own development while going through school. One of the practices was the use of ‘concrete props and visual aids’. When learning about multiplication my teacher had us use Fruit Loops to make multiple groups to show how much we had. If we answered correctly we could eat the Fruit Loops. Not only did I want to answer to eat the food but it was also engaging to learn in a very visual way. Another connection I made was personal and is with my sister. My sister has learning disabilities so when learning about neurons and how the brain transfers energy and knowledge makes more sense.
One question I do have remaining though is, “Since the brain is able to change but it takes consistent practice to do so, is there a scenario which would make it impossible to change that is not injury related?