Ive been arguing for the last several years that we need to view literacy less as an isolated behavioral or cognitive phenomenon, but on a more holistic level as a neurological phenomenon that encompasses behavior, cognition, affect, etc. Indeed, a large chunk of my second book, The Metaphysics of Media, focused on this argument. The argument is not anti-technology or Luddite (its most frequent response). I have offered to send a bibliography of neurological research from the last decade-and-a-half to anyone interested, and a few people took me up on the offer. It was no surprise to me, then, to find one of most frequently cited neuroscientists doing research into reading and the brain mentioned in this article. Stanislaus Dehaene, an experimental cognitive psychologist at the College de France, has been mapping the neural regions associated with different (and differing) cognitive functions. In this article he talks briefly about how some of the physical skills associated with reading/writing/book literacy actually increase learning -- retention, comprehension, and conceptualization. Like Mary Ann Wolf, Dehaene knows that the critical areas associated with literacy are formed (or not) early in life. Recent studies have indicated that note-taking on tablets or laptops in the classroom actually impedes rather than facilitates retention. This article sums up some of the research.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 15:10:50 +0000
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