Ada & Grace
References and Suggested Reading from my JSHS Keynote
 April 28, 2010
Bethesda, MD
 Homer's brain
H. Chad Lane
Research Scientist, USC ICT

 
Thank you!

It was my honor to speak to you on Wednesday. I sincerely hope the experiences of the symposium inspired you and help you find your passions in life.

Below are some links to books, TED talks, ICT web pages, and academic papers that are related to my talk. These books are easily accessible to you. They are based on good science, full of compelling content, and useful for anyone interested in human thinking and learning. If you are able to read all of them, you'll begin to notice some beautiful connections that help explain how people perceive and think. You'll increase your confidence in presenting your ideas because you'll know how to capture attention and keep people thinking about you. The papers will be more of a challenge without a background in Psychology or Statistics, but still worth a look if the topic interests you. I've organized them around some broad themes. 


Helping people remember what you say

An ongoing battle for the scientific community is communicating both the content and importance of our work. The audience isn't just fellow scientists, but also the general public. Having a better understanding how people perceive, listen, understand, and think will enable you to craft succint, effective messages that are understandable and memorable. 

Made to Stick BOOK:  Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die  (book site)
AUTHORS:  Chip Heath & Dan Heath
WHY READ IT?  This book will help you learn how to communicate ideas (even complex ones) in ways that make sense and are memorable. It explains the underlying properties of "sticky" ideas and shows you how to make them for yourself. They do a marvelous job explaining how how the "Curse of Knowledge" can get in the way of communicating effectively. Solid and interesting psychological science underly what they say, along with great storytelling - there is no doubt it will change how you write and speak, and subsequently how well people remember your ideas.


switchBOOK:  Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard  (book site)
AUTHORS:  Chip Heath & Dan Heath
WHY READ IT?  How do you get people to care about your work? To care so much they actually change a belief or how they live? This the follow-up book that focuses on the effect sticky ideas can have on people (including yourself!). It lays out a framework for inducing change through the emotional and rational aspects of decision-making. This is important for scientists because it is almost never enough to just lay out the facts and expect people to change their mind - you should also appeal to emotions. It docments case after case of brilliant people who used creative ways to bring out positive change in the world (e.g., schools, malnutrition).

Becoming aware of your perceptions, beliefs, and emotions

Right now as you read these words there is a lot happening in your body and brain. These are events and processes that are behind the scenes and well outside of your awareness. We could not survive any other way (imagine having to think about beating your heart every second), but at the same time, all of this automaticity can get us into trouble. We constantly make assumptions and derive beliefs that cause us problems. We decide to believe all kinds of things that aren't true... many of them that are about ourselves. Understanding when, how, and why this happens will help you in countless ways.

why we believe what we believeBOOK:  Why We Believe What We Believe  (book site) 
AUTHOR:  Andrew Newberg
WHY READ IT?  This is one of the best books I've encountered that explains modern neuroscience in an accessible and meaningful way. Newberg studies "the biology of belief" and brilliantly describes the transformations that occur in our minds and bodies from an initial perception (e.g., sight, sound) all the way to how we commit to a belief (that we have found truth). This isn't as much of a "how-to" book as the two earlier books, but it goes a layer deeper into understanding how to induce memories and behavior/belief changes in others. Don't worry, you'll still trust your own senses after reading this book - you'll just learn that you might not always want to blindly trust them. And this can be a very positive change.
 
Another good book on snap decision-making (aka, "rapid cognition") and how our brains like to automate is Blink!, by Malcolm Gladwell.

How to become a better learner

Why is it better to tell the teacher that you don't understand something? Why should you choose to make it "harder" on yourself (i.e., shake it up) when you practice a new skill? Why is it a bad idea to tell your kids they are smart? There are some very useful findings in the learning sciences that can be put into good practice. Here are some references:

mindsetBOOK: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (book site)
AUTHOR:  Carol Dweck
WHY READ IT?  People come in two flavors: those who grow and those who are fixed. This book is a result of years of studies in Dweck's lab at Stanford that unpack these two mindsets and show (amazingly) that people can choose. Many people hold the belief that their abilities are fixed - that some limitation they have is innate, such as ability to understand math. It isn't true. This book explains why you shouldn't tell your kids "You are so smart" but rather say "You worked so hard at that problem!" The key is to not be afraid of difficult challenges and even failure. This book goes well beyond school learning by even explaining why it is dangerous to assume you have a "soul mate" (i.e., someone with whom hard work isn't necessary to form a strong relationship - we all have to work hard at that).

I also described a few results from the learning sciences that I believe are valuable. Here are the take-away messages from those and some of the scientific articles describing the studies. These aren't quite as readable as the books above:
  • When a tutor or teacher asks you if you understand something they've said, it is best for you to pause and give an honest answer. If you aren't sure, say so. Our automatic social behaviors are there screaming at us to say "YES" since it will keep the conversation going smoothly and make us "look smart". However, by being honest you will help yourself because the tutor/teacher will have to explain it again, and you can ask follow-up questions and ultimately, leave with a better understanding. In general, you should always ask yourself if you understand and try to identify underlying reasons.
    • Two articles that show that it is the better students who tend to respond "no" when asked if they understand by a human tutor:  Graesser, et al. and Chi, et al.
Expertise and greatness are not innate

the talent codeBOOK:  The Talent Code  (book site)
AUTHOR:  Daniel Coyle
WHY READ IT?  This book is about how greatness happens. When we think of successful people like Michael Jordan or Beyoncè Knowles, most of us conclude that they were just given a "gift", that their talent is innate, and that it just comes naturally for them. Coyle debunks this by showing that greateness is not innate, but rather earned and nurtured. He documents examples from all over the spectrum (sports, music, art) to show that the best-of-the-best all had common ingredients: deep practice, motivation, and expert coaching. He combines evidence from neuroscience and cognitive psychology to back up his stories, and makes us all feel like greatness is within our grasp. 

If you like thinking about expertise, another great researcher to look up is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He has spent his career trying to understand the science of happiness, and has developed flow theory, which is about that state of mind experts find themselves in during practice and execution when they forget about everything else. There are wonderful connections between flow and video games as well, and emerging connections between flow and the learning sciences.

TED Talks

I believe that Interdisciplinary science is going to be the hallmark of the 21st century (if it isn't already). This means scientists should do their best to keep up with other areas of science and avoid just "staying in lanes". One of the easiest (and fun) ways to do this is to watch TED talks. They invite the smartest and most interesting people on the planet and give them 20 minutes to say whatever they want. My mp3 player is loaded with these talks. Here are some of my favorites:

You should go find your own favorites and share them!

Slides and ICT links

Finally, here are my slides from the talk and more information about ICT research. Please feel free to contact me if you ever want to learn more.

Sincerely,
H.

last updated: 1 May 2010

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