Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think, And What We Can

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Index

abortion, spontaneous, 59
abuse, child, 236
ACT (American College Testing
Program), 17
active learning, 71-73, 297-300
ADHD, see attention deficit with
or without hyperactivity disorder
adopted children, 262-64
Age of Reason, 87
air pollution, 164, 238
alcohol, fetal brain development
and, 60, 163-64
aliteracy, 23
Allen, George, 169
allergic (autoimmune) disease,
147
allergies, 166
AU the King's Men (Warren), 25
alphabet, 212, 223-26, 342-45
Alphabet and the Brain, The (de
Kerckhove), 212
Alphabet Effect, The (Logan), 343
alpha waves, 173, 203-4, 231
aluminum, 60, 164
Alvarez, Gonzalo, 253, 256-57
amblyopia, 76-77
American Academy of Pediatrics,
168
American College Testing Pro-
gram (ACT), 17
American Federation of Teachers,
20
American Psychological Association,
243
367
American Sign Language (ASL),
115
Amusing Ourselves to Death
(Postman), 87
Anderson, Daniel, 197-98, 200,
202-3, 204
Anderson, John, 169
Angoff, William H., 262
Animal Farm (Orwell), 98
animals:
brain of human beings vs., 53-
54, 149
music and, 175 .
antisocial behavior, 154, 158, 250,
306
Army, U.S., 168-69
arsenic, 60, 164
artificial intelligence, 322r-23
ASL (American Sign Language),
115
aspartame (NutraSweet), 166,
167-68, 169
Association for Children with
Learning Disabilities, 61
Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development,
42, 153
attention deficit with or without
hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD), 13~1, 149, 153,
177, 186, 192, 250
antisocial behavior and, 154,
158
categories of, 154
cognitive therapy for, 156
attention deficit with or without
hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD) (cont.)
definition of, 139-40
diagnosis of, 155
dyslexia and, 146
emotional factors in, 156
environment and heredity and,
158-59, 178, 192
hyperactivity and, 139-41, 154,
157
learning disabilities and, 139-
141, 149
motivational control of, 157-58
rule-governed behavior and,
157-58
statistics on, 140, 179
attention spans, 13-15, 41-42,
137, 151-92, 302-3, 313
attention systems in, 159-62
brain development and, 138,
159-62
diet and, 162, 165-68
involuntary vs. voluntary, 231
learning and, 154
parental attention and, 177-82
reward systems and, 158-59
television and, 42, 153, 199,
215, 216, 228, 231
auditory cortex, 75
autoimmune (allergic) disease,
147
automatic codes, 125
autoplasticity, 314
axons, 51, 66
Ayres, Jean, 171

back-to-basics movements, 279
Baker, Russell, 120
Bakker, Dirk, 212-13
Barkley, Russell, 157-58
basal readers, 36, 298, 300
beat, internal sense of, 171-72
behavioral teratology, 59
Bernstein, Jane Holmes, 57-58,
73, 79-81
beta waves, 173
birds, neural development of, 149
birth defects, 58-59
birthweight, low, 162
blacks:
class and, 244-46
improved SAT scores of, 18
underclass as stereotype for,
244
whites' adoption of, 263
blood-brain barrier, 163, 164, 167
body language, 109, 125, 344
books:
textbooks, 36-37, 116
trade, 298
Bowers, Reveta, 241
Boyer, Ernest, 320
Bracey, Gerald W., 273
brain, 47-82
alcohol and, 50, 163-64
alphabet and, 212, 342-45
alpha waves of, 173, 2034, 231
animal vs. human, 53-54, 149
beta waves of, 173
blood barrier of, 163, 164, 167
cells of, 51
changing nature of, 13, 45-46,
49, 52, 55, 278
computers vs., 222-23, 321-29,
331
corpus callosum of, 125, 159,
213-14
cortex of, see cortex
damage to, recovering from, 53,
131
of disadvantaged children, 237-
240, 256-58
drugs and, 50, 163-64
emotional deprivation and, 239-
240
environment and, 47-82, 261
evolution of, 333-35
experience-dependent systems
of, 54, 68-69
experience-expectant systems
of, 54, 89, 108
first year in development of,
44, 93
future demands on, 331-46
glial cells of, 51, 56, 66, 71, 73
hearing problems and, 88, 130-
131, 212
"holes" in, 63
individuality of, 58, 141-43,
149, 150 .
internal competition in, 78-79,
127
language and, 86, 106-7, 123-
134
language deprivation and, 86
left hemisphere of, see left
hemisphere of brain
limbic system of, 160-61, 239
motor-speech area of, 131
myelination of, 66-67, 69, 70
neocortex of, 56
neural plasticity of, 47-65, 67,
346
neurons of, see neurons
nutrition and, 165-68, 238
oxygen deprivation of, 163
physical development of, 56
physical fitness and, 170-72
prefrontal development of,
162, 184, 18~90, 191, 215,
260
prenatal stimulation of, 64-65
P300 wave of, 77
of rats, 47-48, 70-72, 264-65
reading and, 211-12, 214, 215-
216, 261
removing one hemisphere of,
128
right hemisphere of, see right
hemisphere of brain
screening out stimulation of,
174
stress and, 62, 167, 174, 238
stroke and, 53
television and, 199, 200-204,
208-17
timing and, 73-78, 265-66
toxic exposure and, 58, 5~1,
62, 138, 162, 164-65, 238
uncommitted tissue of, 53-54
in verbal vs. nonverbal skills,
20, 40
visual system of, 75, 76, 130
weight of, 66
writing and, 211-12, 214, 215-
216, 261, 342-45
Brain, Cognition, and Education,
The (Friedman, Klivington,
and Peterson), 191
Brazelton, T. Barry, 43
breakfast, 167
breast milk, 61
Brislin, Richard, 243, 244, 245,
246
Brooks, Andree, 240-41
Bruner, Jerome, 85, 89, 188, 254,
334-35
Bryant, Jennings, 201-2
Buchwald, Jennifer, 77
bureaucratese, 120

cadmium, 60
California Achievement Test, 28
Call of Stories, The (Coles), 249
Cannell, James, 28, 29
carbohydrates, 166
caretakers, 43-44, 240-41
inadequate learning environments
created by, 240
low pay and low skill of, 241
see also day care
Carnegie Council on Adolescent
Development, 16
cataracts, 77
cats, 75, 76, 79-80
Cazden, Courtney, 186, 243-44,
293
Chelsea (hearing-impaired
woman), 130
chemical fertilizers, 60
children:
abused, 236
adopted, 262-64
caretakers for, 240-41
disadvantaged, see disadvantaged
children
divorce and, 282, 284
of single parents, 284
wild, 129-30
Children of Fast-Track Parents
(Brooks), 240
Children's Television Workshop,
202, 221, 222, 233
chimpanzees, 107
China, People's Republic of, 140
Chinese ideographs, 343
Chopin, Frederic, 174
cigarettes, 58
Classroom Discourse (Cazden),
243
Clear and Lively Writing (Vail),
102 Cliff Notes, 22
closed class (function) words,
118-19, 126, 129, 132
Coalition of Essential Schools, 311
cocaine, 50, 164
codeine, 60
codes:
automatic, 125
elaborated, 117-19, 121, 133
restricted, 116-19
switching of, 120-22
cognitive therapy, 156
Coles, Robert, 249
collaborative learning techniques,
283
College Board, 17
Comer, James, 284-85
Committee on Correspondence on
the Future of Public Education,
335
computer hackers, 21)7
computers, 22, 40, 45, 50, 308-29
brain vs., 222-23, 321-29, 331
as educational tool, 322, 324-
329, 335-37
learning abilities promoted by,
337-38
mediated learning and, 315
nonverbal thinking and, 341
talking to, 324-25
transfer and, 327
writing on, 325-26
zone of proximal development
and, 326-27
conflict resolution, 306-7
connective thinking, 312
Conners, Keith, 166-67, 168
content (open class) words, 118-
119
contextualized instruction, 305,
312
conversation, mealtime, 252
corporations:
middle management in, 279
remedial courses offered by, 16,
86
corpus callosum, 125, 159, 213-
214
cortex, 56, 70, 75, 128
frontal lobes of, 161, 184, 18~
190, 191, 203, 215, 260
cosmetic curriculum, 67
Costa, Arthur, 42, 279
Coulter, Dee, 44, 335
Council for Basic Education, 36
Countryman, Joan, 112
Country of the Pointed Firs, The
(Jewett), 25
critical thinking, 124, 133, 257-
259, 309, 317, 31~21)
Croxton, James, 164
Cullinan, Bernice, 23
cultural evolution, 333-35
cultural literacy, 318-19
Cultural Literacy: What Every
American Needs to Know
(Hirsch), 318
culture, language and, 86-88, 89
curriculum:
cosmetic, 67
rewriting of, 312
zero-based, 273
see also schools; teaching
Curtiss, Susan, 120-30

Dancing Wu Li Masters, The
(Zukav), 340
Darling-Hammond, Linda, 27
Darwin, Charles, 333
Darwin III (computer), 78
day care, 235-37, 239
availability of, 43
language skills in, 94-95
quality of, 44
socioeconomic mix in, 235-37
see also caretakers
deafness, 88, 130, 212
"Debate Grows on Classroom's
'Magic Pill,'" 141
defects, birth, 58-59
de Kerckhove, Derrick, 212, 343
delinquency, 154, 158, 250, 306
Denckla, Martha Bridge, 177-78
dendrites, 71, 76
environmental enrichment and,
131
function of, 51-52, 66
Denenberg, Victor H., 49
deprivation:
emotional, 239-40
of oxygen, 163
Deutsch, Georg, 259
Diamond, Marian, 47-49, 71, 72
Einstein's brain studied by, 73
on environmental enrichment,
48-49, 70, 264
rats' brain studied by: 47-48,
70, 264
on uniqueness of brain, 58
dichotomania, 213
disabilities, learning, see learning
disabilities
disadvantaged children, 235-74
brain of, 237-40, 256-68
definition of, 237
problem-solving abilities of,
248-51, 255-56
in school, 247-57, 304-7
divorce, 282, 284 .
"Doesn't Anybody Here Talk English
Any More?" (Dunning),
102
Down's syndrome, 91
dropout rates, 268
drugs:
brain damage and, 50, 163-64
hyperactivity and, 140-41, 154,
155-57
learning disabilities and, 138,
140-41, 154, 155-57
Duckworth, Eleanor, 185
Dunning, Brian, 102
dyes, food, 166
dysgraphia, 223
dyslexia, 145-48, 149, 192, 303

economics, GRE scoring gains in,
20
Eddy, Kristin, 25
Edelman, Gerald, 78-79
education:
intrauterine, 265
in Japan vs. U.S., 280-81
see also learning; schools; teaching
Educational Testing Service, 18,
262
Education Week, 36, 141
eggs, 167
egocentric speech, 184
Einstein, Albert, 73
Eisner, Eliot, 312-13
elaborated codes, 117-19, 121, 133
Electric Company, 201-2
Elementary School Center, 282
embedded information, 108
Emery, Fred, 203, 210
Emery, Merrelyn, 203, 210
emotional deprivation, 239-40
Engaging Children's Minds
(Katz), 220
engineering, GRE scoring gains
in, 20
English literature:
GRE scores declining in, 19
teachers' dislike of, 22-23
Enriching Heredity (Diamond),
48, 264
environment:
ADHD and, 158-59, 178, 192
brain and, 47-82, 261
enrichment of, 48-49, 70, 131,
264
heredity vs., 48, 49-51, 138,
145-50, 262-64
IQ tests and, 38, 39, 40, 50,
253
learning disabilities and, 50,
138, 145-50
Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), 164
Epstein, Herman, 69
Eskenazi, Brenda, 59, 61
evolution:
cultural, 333-35
of language, 87
examinations, see tests
Exceptional Brain, The (Obler
and Fine), 145
exercise, 170
experience-dependent systems,
54, 68-69
experience-expectant systems, 54,
89, 108

facial expression, 109
Fairleigh Dickinson University,
175
family size, 38-39
Family Ties, 319
FAX machines, 332
Feeding the Brain (Conners), 166
fertilizers, chemical, 60
fetus:
alcohol and, 50, 163-64
artificial stimulation of, 64-65
music and, 174
toxins and, 58, 59-61, 162, 163
Feuerstein, Reuven, 314-15
Fine, Deborah, 145
Finland, 140
Flynn, James R., 39, 40
food, 165-68
additives in, 165, 166
allergies to, 166
dyes in, 166
junk, 162, 165-68
Food Makes the Difference
(Kane), 166
forced learning, 67-69, 242-43
foreign-born students, 19, 20, 21
foreign languages, 114
GRE scores declining in, 19
language development and, 241
learning of, 77-78, 124
Fortune, 16
Frames of Mind (Gardner), 64
France, 101
Freire, Paolo, 223
Friedrich, Frances, 177
function (closed• class) words,
118-19, 126, 129, 132
Futrell, Mary Hatwood, 284, 285

Galaburda, Albert, 146-48
Gardner, Howard, 64, 338
genetic engineering, 296
Genie (wild child), 129, 130
Germany, Federal Republic of
(West), 61, 140
Geshwind, Norman, 146-47
gesturing and prompting, 78
Gettysburg address, 87-88
Geyer, Georgie Anne, 88
glial cells, 51, 56, 66, 71, 73
global village, 45
Gould, Steven Jay, 333-34
Graduate Record Examinations
(GRE):
foreign-born students and, 19,
20
nature of, 18-19
scoring trends of, 18-20
Graham, Sandra, 244-45
grammar, see syntax
Great Britain, 101
Greenfield, Patricia, 320, 321
Greenough, William T., 54-55,
71, 72, 172
Grubb, Ralph, 341
Gulick, Rosemary, 42-43

hackers, computer, 207
Hamilton, A. Jane, 86
Harter, M. Russell, 208, 209
headphones, 81, 87, 103, 172,
175
Head Start, 265
hearing problems:
brain and, 130-31, 212
language skills and, 77, 114-15
math skills and, 112
heart disease, 168
Heath, Shirley Brice, 255-56, 304
Hechinger, Fred M., 25, 240
Heller, Wendy, 213
heredity, environment vs., 48,
49-51, 138, 145-50, 262-64
heroin, 60
Herron, Jeannine, 322
Hirsch, E. D., 318, 319
history, GRE scores declining in,
19
holistic thinking, 124, 125, 133,
257-59, 340
homelessness, 235, 236, 237, 238
Hopi, 259
How to Have a Smarter Baby
(Luddington-Hoe), 65
Hyperactive Children (Barkley),
157
hyperactivity, 139, 140-41, 154,
155-57, 178, 296
see also attention deficit with or
without hyperactivity disorder
hyperlexics, 26

IBM, 337, 341
illiteracy, 22, 212
infants, premature, 238, 245-46
information, embedded, 108
inner speech, 182-86, 190, 192,
314
instruction, see education; teaching
intelligence:
artificial, 322-23
language and, 106-7
see also IQ scores and tests
internal sense of beat, 171-72
International Reading Association,
227
intrauterine education, 265
intuition, 125
Inuits, 106
IQ scores and tests, 13, 37-40,
42, 103, 190
of adopted children, 263
of chimpanzees, 107
environmental factors in, 38,
39, 40, 50, 253
with half of brain removed, 128
increased difficulty of, 38
lead and, 59-60
nutrition and, 38
prefrontal development and,
162
uncertainty of, 38, 39
verbal vs. nonverbal sections of,
37-38
iron deficiency, 165, 167

Japan:
educational philosophy of U.S.
vs., 280-81
newspaper readership in, 24
publishing industry of, 24
Japanese language:
left and right hemisphere functions
in, 212
numbers in, 113-14
Jensen, Janet, 225
Jewett, Sarah Orne, 25
Johnny Tremaine (Forbes), 299
Jones, Anna, 287
junk food, 162, 165-68

Kamehameha Early Education
Program (KEEP), 305-6
Kaspar (wild child), 129, 130
Katz, Lillian, 220, 233, 319, 328
Kay, Paul, 117, 119-20
KEEP (Kamehameha Early Education
Program), 305-6
Kennedy Institute Neurobehavioral
Clinic, 177
Kett, Joseph, 318
kinesthetic (muscular) stimulation,
78
Kinsbourne, Marcel, 213
kittens, 75, 76, 79-80
Klivington, Kenneth. A., 51, 191
Korea, Republic of (South), 238

language, 85-134
body, 109, 125, 326, 344
brain and, 86, 106-7, 123-34
bureaucratic use of, 120
contemporary changes in, 119
culture and, 86-88, 89
in day-care and school, 94-97
deprivation of, 86
developing skills in, 54-55, 76-
78, 88-98, 129-31, 241, 283
disabilities in, 102, 109
evolution of, 87
foreign, see foreign languages
hearing problems and, 77, 114-
115
inner speech and, 182-86, 190,
192, 314
intelligence and, 106-7
listening skills and, 96, 101-4,
121, 143-44, 286-95
language (cont.)
music as model for, 103, 174
Native American, 259-60
parental teaching of, 77-78,
89-94, 103-4, 114-15, 131,
162, 183-86, 188, 286
physical effects of, 106-7, 123-
124
primitive, 116-17, 119-2O
separating words from pictures
in, 91-92, 133, 144
sign, 88
socioeconomics and, 119, 253-
256
syntax and, see syntax
teachers as models for, 95, 96-
97, 132
teenagers' code-switching and,
120-22
television as model for, 88, 94,
114, 115, 210, 225-26
thinking and, 97-99
Language Arts, 321
Lapointe, Archie E., 110
lazy eye, 76-77
lead, toxic effects of, 59-60, 164,
167, 238, 261
learned helplessness, 187
Learners' Model Technology
Project, 330
learning, 81
active, 71-73, 297-300
attention span and, 154
collaborative techniques of,
283
computers and, 322, 324-29,
335-38
forced, 67-69, 242-43
of foreign languages, 77-78, 124
listening skills and, 143-44
mediated, 314-15
passive, 73, 80, 95, 187, 199,
201-3, 230-31, 297, 298-99
receptive, 202
Sesame Street and, 221, 222-24
of syntax, 107-9, 288-90
visual imagery and, 232
see also education; schools;
teaching
learning disabilities, 137-50, 186
ADHD and, 139-41, 149
definition of, 141
diagnoses of, 139
drug treatment of, 138, 140-41,
154, 155-57
environment and heredity and,
50, 138, 145-50
hyperactivity and, 139, 140
individuality of, 141-43
language and, 102, 109
as middle-class phenomenon,
139, 140
nonverbal, 148-49
overstimulation and, 175
physical therapy for, 171
sedentary lifestyles and, 138
toxic exposure and, 59, 62, 138
Left Brain, Right Brain (Springer
and Deutsch), 259
left-handedness, 147
left hemisphere of brain, 123-34
critical thinking and, 124, 133,
257-59
dyslexia and, 146
function words and, 118, 126
hearing impairment and, 130
learning disabilities and, 160
musical appreciation by, 126,
173
Native American language use
of, 260
phonological awareness and,
103, 126
reading skills and, 127, 133,
210
right hemisphere interacting
with, 125, 126, 128, 132-34,
159, 160, 174, 209, 213-14,
215, 216
syntax and, 109, 110, 124, 126-
134
television's neglect of, 110, 127,
209, 210-11, 215, 216
of wild children, 129-30
Leiden University, 198
Lerner, Richard M., 52, 235
Levy, Jerre, 175, 214, 233
lifestyles, sedentary, 138
limbic system, 160-61, 239
Lindamood, Patricia, 287
listening skills:
importance of, 96
integrating other language skills
with, 297, 300-302
language problems and, 96,
101-4, 121, 143-44, 286-95
parental teaching of, 292
television and, 121, 144, 153,
228-29
literacy, 22, 112
cultural, 318-19
visual, 320, 321, 339-40
literature, see English literature
Logan, Robert, 343
LOGO, 327
lower class, 244, 246
Luddington-Hoe, Susan, 43-44,
65, 174-75
Lundberg, Ingvar, 224-25
Luria, Alexander, 85, 106-7, 117,
182-83, 190

Macbeth (Shakespeare), 232
McCall, Robert B., 248
McGuinness, Diane, 156-57
McKeever, Walter, 259-60
McLanguage, 102, 110
McLuhan, Marshall, 344
McMahon, Audrey, 61
MacNeil, Robert, 228
MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour, 228
magazines, increasing numbers of,
24
magic square, 189
Magna Carta, 343
magnetic resonance imaging, 149
malnutrition, 165, 238
manganese, 164
Manrique, Beatriz, 267
marijuana, 60, 164
math, 96
brain functions required by, 20,
125, 127, 148
declining skills in, 15, 16, 20,
21, 188
grammatical problems and, 110,
112-14
and internal sense of beat, 171-
172
nonverbal thinking in, 107, 250,
342
scoring trends in, 18, 19-20
visual imagery and, 232
Matthew (homeless child), 236
mealtime conversation, 252
mediated learning, 314-15
memorizing, 290
memory:
short-term auditory, 143
working, 231
mental retardation:
aspartame and, 167
lead and, 59
synaptic connections and, 75
mercury, 60, 164
metacognition, 313-15
metalinguistic awareness, 227
methadone, 60 .
methyl mercury, 60
Mexico, 164
mice, 175
Michelle (student), 289
middle class, 139, 140
milk, breast, 61
Mind and Media (Greenfield), 320
mindware, 311
"Missouri New Parents as Teachers
Project (NPAT)," 285-86
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,
225, 231
monkeys, 68, 76
mothers, 265
gesturing and prompting by, 78
teenage, 237
working, 43, 94, 95, 240
see also parents
motor cortex, 161
motor-speech area of brain, 131
Motorola, 16
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 174
muscular (kinesthetic) stimulation,
78
music, 172-76
animal studies and, 175
fetal response to, 174
as language model, 103, 174
music (cont.)
left and right hemisphere
functions and, 103, 125,
126, 173
videos of, 196, 340
myelin, 66-67, 69, 70

Naropa Institute, 335
National Academy of Sciences,
312
National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP), 17,
20, 21, 22, 25-26, 110, 188
National Council for Teachers of
English, 321
National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics, 153
Native American languages, 259-
260
nature-nurture question, see environment;
heredity
Navaho, 259-60, 305-6
Needleman, Herbert L., 60
neocortex, 56
Netherlands, 39
Neural Darwinism (Edelman), 78
neural plasticity of brain, 47-65,
67, 346
advantages and disadvantages
of, 55-56
definition of, 49, 50
studies of, 47-48, 49
neuromodulators, 52, 158
neuromotor development, 68
neurons, 51-52, 53, 63, 71, 127
dyslexia and, 146-48
excess numbers of, 57, 66, 74,
78
experience-expectant, 54
function of, 51-52
negative networks of, 69
prenatal migration of, 56, 59
structure of, 51
neurotransmitters, 52, 158
Neville, Helen, 130-31
Newport, Elissa, 115
newspapers:
numbers and readership of, 24
television news vs., 23
New York Times, 26, 164, 174,
240, 319
Niger, 321
"Nintendo, " 207
noise pollution, 173
nonverbal skills, 107, 250, 341-42
disorders with, 148-49
verbal skills vs., 20, 40
North Point Press, 24
numbers:
place value of, 113-14
see also math
nursery rhymes, 93
NutraSweet (aspartame), 166,
167-68, 169
nutrition, 266, 282
brain chemistry and, 165-68,
238
IQ and, 38
myelin and, 70
in pregnancy, 62, 63

obesity, 168
Obler, Lorraine, 145
Ogbu, John U., 330
On the Nature of Human Plasticity
(Lerner), 52
open class (content) words, 118-
119
oral tradition, 290
Orland, Martin, 246
O'Rourke, Shirley, 40-41
Orr, Eleanor Wilson, 113
oxygen deprivation, 163

Palmer, Edward, 320
Pareles, Jon, 174
parents:
attention spans and, 177-82
attitude of, 246, 266-67
caretakers as substitutes for,
240-41
connective thinking taught by,
312
language skills taught by, 77-
78, 89-94, 103-4, 114-15,
131, 162, 183-86, 188, 286
listening skills taught by, 292
mediated learning and, 314-15
overly ambitious demands of,
242-43
problem-solving abilities taught
by, 248-51, 255-56
reluctant self-assertion of, 45
schools and, '284-86
single, 284
see also mothers
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA),
164
passive learning, 73, 80, 95, 187,
199, 201-3, 230-31, 297,
298-99
passive voice, 108, 128
Paul (day-care child), 236-37
Paul, Diana, 37
PBBs, 60
PCBs, 60
Pennington, Bruce, 145, 190
perceptual defense, 229
perceptual-motor skills, 208
perceptual organization, 229
Perkins, David, 311
pesticides, 60, 61, 164-65
Peterson, Gary, 330
philosophy, GRE eliminated for,
19
phoneme segregation, 288
phonics, 25, 27, 127, 133, 228,
287-88
phonological awareness, 103, 126,
258, 287-88
physical abuse, 236
physical fitness, 168-72
physical therapy, 171
pictures, separating words from,
91-92, 133, 144
"Pig Latin, " 287
PKU, 167
placenta, 58, 62
Pogrow, Stanley, 248-49
political science, GRE scores declining
in, 19
pollution:
air, 238
noise, 173
Pope, Alexander, 49
Posner, Michael, 177, 321
Postman, Neil, 87, 228
Potchen, E. James, 149-50
poverty, 237, 238 .
prefrontal development of brain,
162, 184, 189-90, 191, 215,
260
pregnancy, 59-65
drug use in, 60
fetal brain artificially stimulated
in, 64-65
fetal exposure to toxins in, 58,
59-61, 162, 163
nutrition in, 62, 63
stress in, 62, 238
teenage, 237
Premack, David, 107
premature infants, 238, 245-46
prenatal care and stimulation, 38
"Prenatal University, " 65
preschoolers, reading and, 222-
223
Presidential Fitness Test, 168 .
President's Council on Physical
Fitness and Sports, 169
primitive languages, 116-17, 119-
120
print, 87
problem-solving models, 248-51,
255-56
processing, sequential and parallel,
322-23
prompting and gesturing, 78
protein, 167, 239
proximal development, zone of
(ZPD), 186, 190, 191, 326-
327
psychology, GRE ~ring gains in,
20
PTA (Parent-Teacher Association),
164
P300 wave, 77
publishing industry, 24

questioning, 295-96

race, 243, 244-45, 263
radio, 233
RAND, 27
Rapin, Isabelle, 63
ratio of senses, 344
rats:
Diamond's studies of, 47-48,
70-72, 264-65
maternal improvement study of,
265
stress study of, 62
Ravitch, Diane, 344
Reading Rainbow, 221
Reading Research Quarterly, 198
reading skills, 20-37
active learning of, 297-300
alphabet recognition and, 223-
226
brain and, 211-12, 214, 215-16,
261
decline of, 20, 21-26, 188
dumbing-down tests for, 27-29
dyslexia and, 145-46, 303
faulty testing of, 26-29, 36
integrating other language skills
with, 297, 300-302
and internal sense of beat, 171-
172
left-hemisphere deficiency and,
127, 133, 210
metalinguistic awareness and,
226
preschoolers and, 222-23
Sesame Street and, 221, 222-34
television and, 198-99, 203,
208-9, 221, 222-34
test samples for, 30-35
textbooks and, 36-37, 116
reasoning, see thinking
receptive learning, 202
Reeves, Byron, 200
relational thinking, 124, 125, 133,
251, 257-59, ~, 305-6
remedial courses, 16, 86, 2137
Renner, Michael, 71
restricted codes, 116-19
retardation, mental, see mental
retardation
reward systems, 158-59
Rhine River, 61
rhymes, nursery, 93
right hemisphere of brain, 123-
134, 212, 316, 317
dyslexia and, 146-47
holistic thinking and, 124, 125,
133, 257-59, 340
left hemisphere interacting
with, 125, 126, 1213, 132-34,
159, 160, 174, 209, 213-14,
215, 216
musical appreciation and, 103,
125, 173
Native American languages and,
259-60
nonverbal learning disorders
and, 148-49
syntax and, 109, 124-25, 1213-
129
television and, 210-11, 215,
216
video games and, 125, 127
of wild children, 129-30'
Ritalin, 140-41, 155-57, 170, 179
Rivera, Lourdes, 235-37, 241
"Roadville, " 255-56
Romagnano, Lew, 331
Roseanne, 319
Rosenzweig, Mark, 70-71
Round the Circle: Key Experiences
in Movement (Weikart),
171
rule-governed behavior, 157-58

Salt Institute, 130, 191
SAT, see Scholastic Aptitude Test
Scandinavia, 224
Scarr, Sandra, 263-64, 265
Scheibel, Arnold, 74, 131
Schieffelin, Bambi, 90-91, 95-96
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT),
17-18, 39
bias criticisms of, 17
declining scores on, 17-18
improved minority scores on,
18
Scholnick, Ellin, 265
schools, 277-307
administrators of, 29
cultural responsibility of, 277-
278, 320
disadvantaged children in, 247-
257, 304-7
language in, 94-97
parents and, 284-86
schedule of, 282, 321
socioeconomics and, 268-72
structural changes suggested
for, 282, 321
see also teachers; teaching
Schorr, Lisbeth B., 247, 265
Schwartz, Judah, 324, 339
science, 96
declining skills in, 15, 16, 20,
188
grammatical problems and,
110
and rewriting curriculum, 312
visual imagery and, 232
secondary repertoires, 79
sedentary lifestyles, 138
Segalowitz, Sid, 215
senses, ratio of, 344
sensorimotor-perceptual skills,
170
Sensory Integration Therapy, 171
sensory skills, 76-78
sentence structure, 116-19
Sesame Street, 201, 202, 208, 217,
218-34, 288, 319
cultural messages of, 233
and declining reading and
learning skills, 221, 222-34
false message of, 220-21, 226
good television symbolized by,
219-20
incomprehensibility of, 230-31
lack of research on, 221-22,
234
as language model, 94, 114,
225-26
listening skills ignored by, 228-
229
manipulative format of, 200,
202, 218-19, 220, 225, 226,
228
number of viewers of, 221
passive learning and, 80, 230-
231
production cost of, 221
sensory overloading on, 229-
230
slapstick humor of, 233
socioeconomics and, 220, 225,
226
viewing habits institutionalized
by, 196, 220
see also television
Shakespeare, William, 340
Shanker, Albert, 20-21
Shedlin, Allan, 282
Shoemaker, Jack, 24
short-term auditory memory, 143
Siegel, Linda, 208
sign language, 88
Silas Marner (Eliot), 249
Simonds, Roderick, 131
Singer, Jerome, 198, 209, 230,
231
single parents, 284
Smart Kids with School Problems
(Vail), 102
Snow, Catherine, 91
socioeconomics:
academic achievement and,
235-37, 243-47, 257, 263-64,
268
differing values and, 244, 245
drug use and, 164
growing gulf in, 220, 226
IQ tests and, 50
language and, 119, 253-56
of learning disabilities, 139, 140
problems found at every level
of, 101, 179, 239, 240, 249,
252-53, 272
race vs., 244-45
school quality and, 268-72
status (SEC) and, 244, 245-46
teachers' understanding of, 244,
254, 305
of television viewing, 196, 238,
252, 321
sociology, GRE scores declining
in, 19
soft drinks, 166, 167, 168
solvents, 60
Soviet, Union, 170
"Space Invaders," 206
speech:
egocentric, 184
inner, 182-86, 190, 192, 314
spelling:
computer tutoring and, 326
hearing problems and, 77
left hemisphere and, 125, 146,
148, 210
listening skills and, 102
visualization and, 126-27
Spinelli, Nico, 77
spontaneous abortion, 59
Springer, Sally, 259
Stanford Achievement Test, 28
starches, 166
stimulation:
excessive, 175, 229-30
muscular, 78
prenatal, 64-65
screening of, 174
see also television
storytelling, 93, 104, 255, 256
stress, 62, 167, 174, 238
stroke victims, 53
sugar, 165, 166, 167, 266
superbabies, 242, 286
synapses, 51-52, 75, 76, 77, 86
brain power and, 52
definition of, 47
enriched conditions and, 71
"firming up" of, 53, 69, 74
increasing size of, 47
and internal competition in
brain, 79, 127
remodeling of, 242-43, 262-
265
syntax, 105-22
elaborated codes and, 117-19,
121, 133
function of, 88, 288
learning of, 107-9, 288-90
left and right hemisphere handling
of, 109, 110, 124-26,
128-34
mathematics and, 110, 112-14
restricted codes and, 116-19
simple, 117, 121
thinking and, 105-7, 110

tachistoscope, 258
taikyo, 265
"Talents Unlimited, " 307
teachers:
as language models, 95, 96-97,
132
mediated learning and, 315
qualities needed by, 283-84
remedial training needed by,
287
socioeconomic differences and,
244, 254, 305
subjects disliked by, 22
on worsening abilities, 14-15,
21-22, 40-43, 99-102, 111-
112, 137, 151, 227, 268-69,
316-17
see also education; schools
teaching:
as anachronism, 312
collaborative learning techniques
of, 283
computers and, 322, 324-29,
335-38
contextualized instruction and,
305, 312
group discussions and, 292
increased knowledge of, 16-17
to manipulate test scores, 29,
36, 268, 269-71, 273, 278
suggested changes in, 283-307
of thinking, 308-18
whole language movement and,
see whole language movement
see also education; learning;
schools; teachers
"Technology and the American
Transition," 337-38
teenagers:
code-switching by, 120-22
as mothers, 237
television, 42, 55, 73, 74, 90, 99,
127, 131, 195-217, 266, 319
attention spans and, 42, 153,
199, 215, 216, 228, 231
brain and, 199, 200-204, 208-
217
cognitive consequences of, 198-188
critical thinking and, 320
dysgraphia and, 223
foreign language experiment
with, 114
IQ tests and, 40
lack of research on, 195, 196-98
as language model, 88, 94, 114,
115, 210, 225-26
left hemisphere neglected by,
110, 127, 209, 210-11, 215,
216
listening skills and, 121, 144,
153, 228-29
manipulative techniques of,
199-201, 211
news presentation on, 23
passive learning and, 80, 187,
199, 201-3, 230-31
reading skills and, 198-99, 203,
208-9, 221, 222-34
right hemisphere stimulated by,
210-11, 215, 216
as scapegoat, 44, 87
simple syntax used on, 117, 121
socioeconomics of, 196, 238,
252, 321
viewing time of, 18, 23, 94,
169, 196, 216-17
visualization skills and, 232,
316, 342
writing skills and, 202
see also Sesame Street
Television and America's Children:
A Crisis of Neglect
(Palmer), 320
tense markers, 108
teratogens, 59
tests, 28d
California Achievement, 28
dumbing-down of, 27-29
faulty, 26-29, 36
Graduate Record Examinations,
see Graduate Record Examinations
IQ, see IQ tests and scores
manipulating scores of, 29. 36,
268, 269-71, 273, 278
Presidential Fitness, 168
of reading skills, 26-36
Scholastic Aptitude, see Scholastic
Aptitude Test
Stanford Achievement, 28
textbooks, 36-37, 116
thalidomide, 58
Tharp, Roland G., 305-6
therapy:
cognitive, 156
physical, 171
thinking:
connective, 312
critical, 124, 125, 133, 251,
257-59, 303-4, 305-6, 309,
317, 319-20
holistic, 124, 125, 133, 257-59,
340
language and, 97-99
metacognition and, 313-15
mindware and, 311
nonverbal, 107, 250, 341-42
relational, 124, 125, 133, 251,
257-59, 303-4, 305-6
syntax and, 105-7, 110
teaching of, 308-18
in writing, 110-12
Third World, 321
Thought and Language (Vygotsky),
183
time sequence, 108
toast, 167
Tom Sawyer (Twain), 116
toxic exposure, 58, 59-61, 62,
138, 162, 163, 164-65, 238
"Trackton, " 255
trade books, 298
transfer, 205-6, 208, 327
Twain, Mark, 121-22
Twice as Less (Orr), 113
twins, 50
two-tier society, 335

underclass, 244, 246, 335
United States:
educational philosophy of Japan
vs., 280-81
low performance levels in, 16, 39

"Vacuous Vision, The" (Emery
and Emery), 203
Vail, Priscilla, 102, 103-4, 109,
295, 338
Valenti, Jack, 36
Venezuela, 26'Z
verbal skills:
brain functions required for, 20,
40
decline of, 13-15, 21, 99-102
GRE scores declining in, 19
IQ test scores declining in, 37-
38
SAT scores declining in, 17-18
vertical feature detectors, 75
video games, 195-217
addictiveness of, 205
attention spans and, 154
emotional lures of, 207
limited educational potential of,
207-8
real-life situations substituted
by, 80-81, 87
right hemisphere and, 125, 127
transfer and, 205-6, 208
videos, music, 196, 340
visualization, 109, 232, 316, 342
visual literacy, 320, 321, 339-40
visual system of brain:
feature detectors of, 75, 76
hearing impairment and, 130
vitamin pills, 167
Vivaldi, Antonio, 174
Vygotsky, Lev, 183-84, 185, 186

Waber, Deborah, 258-59, 261
wait time, 293
Wall Street Journal, 16
Wang, Margaret C., 139
Washington Post, 25
Wechsler Scales, 38
Weikart, Phyllis, 171
Wells, Gordon, 90, 92, 96, 246
Welsh, Marilyn, 190
When Children Don't Learn
(McGuinness), 156
White, Burton, 285-86
White, Mary Alice, 338
whites, blacks adopted by, 263
whole language movement, 296-
304
active learning and, 297-300
integrating skills in, 297, 300-
302
misuses of, 303
source materials in, 297, 302
Wiggins, Grant, 311
wild children, 129-30
Wilson, Marilyn, 309
Winn, Marie, 196, 210
Witelson, Sandra, 133
Within Our Reach (Schorr), 247,
265
Woodward, Arthur, 36
wordcalling, 26
words:
closed class (function), 118-19,
126, 129, 132
open class (content), 115-19
separating pictures from, 91-92,
133, 144
Wordsworth, William, 85
working memory, 231
working mothers, 43, 94, 95, 240
writing:
brain and, 211-12, 214, 215-16,
261, 342-45
clear thinking in, 110-12
computers and, 325-26
declining skills in, 110-12
habits of, 68
integrating other language skills
with, 297, 300-302
as intellectual stimulation, 119,
290, 295
invention of, 87, 342
television and, 202
Writing to Learn Mathematics
(Countryman), 112
Wurtman, Judith, 166
Wurtman, Richard, 167-68

zero-based curriculum, 273
Zigler, Edward, 241, 273
zinc, 167
zone of proximal development
(ZPD), 186, 190, 191, 326-27
Zukav, Gary, 340-41

[admin]

Dr. Diamond continues. "Here's a summary of the data comparing brain size and weight of rats reared in the standard cages, those who lived in the 'impoverished' environments, and here" -- she pauses dramatically -- "are the results with the animals who lived in the enrichment cages. Notice how, with increasing amounts of environmental enrichment, we see brains that are larger and heavier, with increased dendritic branching. That means those nerve cells can communicate better with each other. With the enriched environments we also get more support cells because the nerve cells are getting bigger. Not only that, but the junction between the cells -- the synapse -- also increases its dimensions. These are highly significant effects of differential experience. It certainly shows how dynamic the nervous system is and how responsive it is to its internal and external surroundings."

[admin]

Another point: Has no one noticed that children are very culturally literate -- except that it's for a different culture? Just make up a list of any details from Roseanne, Family Ties, Sesame Street, etc. and most kids would come out looking as smart as they really are. The problem is that our children have exposed us to ourselves, and we don't like what we see. We have shown them what is really valued in our society, and those little cultural apprentices have happily soaked it up.

If we are serious about wanting them prepared by a knowledge base to gather the intellectual fruits of world cultures, the obvious expedient is to change the content of children's television programming and use other video as enrichment. In my opinion, this should be a major responsibility of both educational and commercial networks. Otherwise, we will soon be forced to revise university-level curricula to include in-depth studies of talking animals and human buffoons.

Schools cannot plaster children with a paste of "cultural literacy" that the culture itself repudiates. Nor can schools completely counteract the powerful effects of television programming that works at direct cross-purposes with our efforts to teach children to think.

[admin]

While dining not long ago with a scientist who probes the workings of the brain, I enjoyed hearing about the intellectual exploits of his three-year-old daughter, clearly the apple of her Daddy's eye. I enjoyed his stories, that is, until we got to dinosaurs.

"She can recognize all the names when she sees them on the computer screen: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Brontosaurus, whatever -- and she matches them right up to the pictures'" he said happily. "The program we got her even teaches about what each one ate, and whether they could fly, and all kinds of stuff. It's amazing!"

I didn't say what was really on my mind at that point . . . something like, "I'm sure that will be really useful for her when she takes her first course in paleontology." Being something of a wimp in the presence of those who spend their days rooting around in other people's brains, I only said,

"And how long did it take her to learn all this?"

"Oh, she loves her computer. She spends a lot of time at it. When my wife and I are busy we would much rather see her there than watching TV. At least we know she's doing something educational."

"Does your little girl ever just play -- by herself, or with other little kids?"

"Oh, sure." He thought for a moment. "But she really loves that computer! Isn't it wonderful how much they can learn at this age?"

"What do you think that computer is doing to her brain?" I asked.

He paused. "You know," he said slowly, "I never thought about it. I really haven't a clue."