Lack of Screen-Based Media Strengthens Teens’ Nonverbal Emotional Cues

A field experiment examined whether increasing opportunities for face-to-face interaction while eliminating the use of screen-based media and communication tools improved nonverbal emotion–cue recognition in preteens. After five days interacting face-to-face without the use of any screen-based media, preteens’ recognition of nonverbal emotion cues improved significantly more than that of the control group for both facial expressions and videotaped scenes. Implications are that the short-term effects of increased opportunities for social interaction, combined with time away from screen-based media and digital communication tools, improves a preteen’s understanding of nonverbal emotional cues.

Uhls, Y. T., Michikyan, M., Morris, J., Garcia, D., Small, G. W., Zgourou, E., & Greenfield, P. E. (2014). Five days at outdoor education camp without screens improves preteen skills with nonverbal emotion cues. Computers in Human Behavior, 39, 387-392. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.05.036

Cognitive Functioning in Development

This study reports the dynamic anatomical sequence of human cortical gray matter development between the age of 4-21 years using quantitative four-dimensional maps and time-lapse sequences. Thirteen healthy children for whom anatomic brain MRI scans were obtained every 2 years, for 8-10 years, were studied. By using models of the cortical surface and sulcal landmarks and a statistical model for gray matter density, human cortical development could be visualized across the age range in a spatiotemporally detailed time-lapse sequence. The resulting time-lapse "movies" reveal that (i) higher-order association cortices mature only after lower-order somatosensory and visual cortices, the functions of which they integrate, are developed, and (ii) phylogenetically older brain areas mature earlier than newer ones. Direct comparison with normal cortical development may help understanding of some neurodevelopmental disorders such as childhood-onset schizophrenia or autism. Lastly, cognitive and neuroscientists called for educators to foster school cultures that better support adolescent development.

Gogtay, N., Giedd, J. N., Lusk, L., Hayashi, K. M., Greenstein, D., Vaituzis, A. C., Nugent III, T. F., Herman, D. H., Clasen, L. S., Toga, A. W., Rapoport, J. L., & Thompson, P. M. (2004). Dynamic mapping of human cortical development during childhood through early adulthood. PNAS, 101(21), 8174-8179. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0402680101

Policymakers and Funding for Adolescent Literacy

The final report of the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy caps a five-year effort to examine literacy skills among students in grades 4-12. It asks federal leaders to pay for more research into adolescent literacy, back key legislation on the subject making its way through Congress, and support the development of common academic standards. The report notes that while elementary reading scores have shown progress in recent years, achievement in middle and high school has stagnated. It is time, the panel says, to expand on the gains made by the federal Reading First program, and extend explicit literacy instruction into upper grades--and not just in English classes, but in every subject area. To remedy the problem, it is stated that federal policymakers should increase the portion of Title I money for disadvantaged students that goes to middle and high schools or create a separate funding stream "squarely focused on middle and high schools" to support that work, the panel says.

Gewertz, C. (2009). Literacy woes put in focus: Panel urges federal action for adolescent students. Education Week, 29(4). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ864142