01
02
03
04
05
06

B ibliography

07
08
09

Baniel A. 2009. Move into Life: The Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality. New York:
Harmony Books.

10
11

Begley S. 2007. Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain: How a New Science Reveals
Our Extraordinary Potential to Transform Ourselves. New York: Ballantine
Books.

12

Berglund B, Rossi GB, Townsend JT, Pendrill LR. eds. 2011. Measurements with Persons:
Theory, Methods and Implementation Areas. Abingdon, Oxfordshire, UK: Psychology Press/​Taylor & Francis.
Bernstein N. 1996. On Dexterity and Its Development. Edited by ML Latash, MT Tuvey;translated by ML Latash. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Berthoz A. 2000. The Brain’s Sense of Movement. Translated by G Weiss. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard University Press.

13
14
15
16
17
18

Broman SH, Fletcher JM, eds. 1999. The Changing Nervous System: Neurobehavioral
Consequences of Early Brain Disorders. New York: Oxford University Press.

19

Bronson P, Merryman A. 2009. Nurtureshock: New Thinking About Children. New York:
Twelve/​Hachette Book Group.

20
21

Dawkins R. 1996. Climbing Mount Improbable. New York: W. W. Norton.

22

Doidge N. 2007. The Brain That Changes Itself. New York: Viking/​Penguin.

23

Edelman GM, Tononi G. 2000. A Universe of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes
Imagination. New York: Basic Books

24

Eliot L. 1999. What’s Going On in There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First
Five Years of Life. New York: Bantam.

25

Feldenkrais, M. 1990. Awareness Through Movement. New York: Harper Collins.

27

Feldenkrais, M. 1994. Body and Mature Behavior. Madison, Connecticut: IUP, Inc.

26
28

Feldenkrais, M. 1977. The Case of Nora: Body Awareness as Healing Therapy. New York:
Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.

29

Feldenkrais, M. 1992. The Potent Self: A Guide to Spontaneity. New York: HarperCollins.

S30
N31

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 235

22/09/12 11:40 AM

236 / Bibliography

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13

Fogel A. 2009. The Psychophysiology of Self-Awareness: Rediscovering the Lost Art of
Body Sense. New York: W. W. Norton.
Garber J, Dodge KA, eds. 1991. The Development of Emotion Regulation and Dysregula‑tion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Gerber M, ed. 1979. The RIE Manual for Parents and Professionals. Los Angeles:
Resources for Infant Educarers.
Gesell A. 1940. The First Five Years of Life: A Guide to the Study of the Pre-SchoolChild. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Gopnik A, Meltzoff AN, Kuhl PK. 1999. The Scientist in the Crib: Minds, Brains and
How Children Learn. New York: William Morrow.
Gould SJ. 1977, rpnt. 2007. Ever Since Darwin. New York: W. W. Norton.
Grandin T. 2011. The Way I See It. Arlington, TX.: Future Horizons.
Guyton AC. 1981. Textbook of Medical Physiology. Philadelphia: Saunders.
Hanson R, Mendius R. 2009. Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness,
Love & Wisdom. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
Hebb DO. 1949. The Organization of Behavior. New York: Wiley.

14

Koch C. 2004. The Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach. Englewood,
CO: Roberts.

15

Krogman WM. 1972. Child Growth. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

16

Land G, Jarman B. 1998. Breakpoint and Beyond: Mastering the Future Today. Scottsdale, AZ: Leadership 2000.

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30S

LeDoux J. 2002. Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are. New York: Viking/​
Penguin.
Lewis MD, Granic I. 2000. Emotion, Development and Self-Organization: Dynamic
Systems Approaches to Emotional Development. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press.
Llinàs R, Churchland PS, eds. 1996. The Mind-Brain Continuum. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.
Nicolelis M. 2011. Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains with
Machines—And How It Will Change Our Lives. New York: Henry Holt.
Norretranders T. 1998. The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Size. New
York: Viking/​Penguin.
Pellegrini A, Smith. PK. 2005. The Nature of Play: Great Apes and Humans. New York:
Guildford Press.
Pellis SM, Pellis VC. 2010. The Playful Brain: Venturing to the Limits of Neuroscience.
Oxford: Oneworld.
Pikler E. 1999. Friedliche Babys, zufriedene Muetter (Peaceful babies, contented
mothers). Freiburg/​Breisgau: ­Herder-​­Vertlag.

31N

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 236

22/09/12 11:40 AM

Bibliography / 237
Pikler E. 1988. Lasst mir Zeit: die sebstaendige Bewegungsentwicklung des Kindes bis
zum freien Gehen (Give me time: The independent movement development of a childup to free walking). Munich: ­Pflaum-​­Verlag.
Pikler E. 1997. Miteinander vertraut werden (To gain trust with one another). Freiburg/​
Breisgau: ­Herder-​­Vertlag.
Prasad KN. 1980. Regulation of Differentiation in Mammalian Nerve Cells. New York:
Plenum.

01
02
03
04
05
06

Ratey JJ. 2000. A User’s Guide to the Brain. New York: Pantheon.

07

Renninger KA, Hidi S, Krapp A. 1992. The Role of Interest in Learning and Develop‑
ment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

08

Reynolds V. 1967. The Apes; The Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Orangutan and Gibbon: Their
History and Their World. London: Cassell.

09

Schaller GB. 1963. The Mountain Gorilla: Ecology and Behavior. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Schultz AH. 1969. The Life of Primates. New York: Universe Books.

10
11
12

Schwartz J, Begley S. 2002. The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power ofMental Force. New York: HarperCollins.

13
14

Seligman M. 2006 Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. New
York: Free Press.

15

Siegel, DJ. 2010. Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation. New York:
Bantam.

16

Siegel DJ, Hartzell M. 2003. Parenting from the Inside Out. New York: Tarcher/​Penguin

17

Stein N, Leventhal B, Trabasso T, eds. 1990. Psychological and Biological Processes inthe Development of Emotion. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

18

Thelen E, Smith LB. 1996. A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of
Cognition and Action. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

20

Van L
­ awick-​­Goodall J. 1971. In the Shadow of Man. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

21

Wallechinsky D, Wallace A, Basen I, Farrow J, eds. 2004. The Book of Lists: The Original
Compendium of Curious Information. Toronto: Knopf Canada.

22

19

23

Watts ES, ed. 1985. Nonhuman Primate Models for Human Growth and Development.
New York: Alan R. Liss.

24

Wyer RS, Srull TK. 1984. Handbook of Social Cognition. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

25
26
27
28
29
S30
N31

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 237

22/09/12 11:40 AM

01
02
03
04
05
06

R eferences

07
08
09

1. How It All Began
5

10

something was terribly wrong: Eighteen years later modern diagnostic methods
would reveal a third of Elizabeth’s cerebellum was missing. Her official diagnosis was
cerebral hypoplasia.

11
12
13
14

2. From Fixing to Connecting
19

22

23

15

The brain has the ability to figure itself out: The brain is the ultimate ­self-​­organizing system. Thompson E, Varela FJ. 2001. Radical embodiment: Neuraldynamics and consciousness. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 5: ­418–​­25. Lewis MD,
Todd RM. 2005. Getting ­emotional—​­A neural perspective on emotion, intention andconsciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies 12(­8 –​­10): 2­ 13–​­38.
These random experiences . . . ​are in fact required for every child’s brain toform itself as fully as it might: Coq J‑O, Byl N, Merzenich MM. 2004. Effects ofsensorimotor restriction and anoxia on gait and motor cortex organization: Implications for a rodent model of cerebral palsy. Neuroscience 129(1): ­141–​­56.
to help a child who is unable to crawl, it might seem perfectly logical . . . ​toassist him in making crawling motions. What research there is often shows little
effect, and part of the reason for this may be a focus on the end result. Damiano DL.
2009. Rehabilitative therapies in cerebral palsy: The good, the not as good, and thepossible. Journal of Child Neurology 24(9): ­1200–​­04. See also Palmer FB, Shapiro
BK, Wachtel RC, et al. 1988. The effects of physical therapy on cerebral palsy. A controlled trial in infants with spastic diplegia. New England Journal of Medicine 318(13):­803–​­08. Butler C, Darrah J. 2001. Effects of neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT)
for cerebral palsy: An AACPDM evidence report. Developmental Medicine & Child
Neurology 43(11): ­778–​­90. Wiart L, Darrah J, Kembhavi G.. 2008. Stretching withchildren with cerebral palsy: What do we know and where are we going? PediatricPhysical Therapy 20(2): ­173–​­78. Dreifus L. 2003. Commentary: Facts, myths and fallacies of stretching. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine 2(2): ­75–​­77.

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 239

22/09/12 11:40 AM

16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
S30
N31

240 / References

01

23

02
03
04

25

05
06
07

27

08
09
10
11
12
13

3. Your Child’s Amazing Brain
28

14
15
16
17

29

18
19
20
21
22
23
24

30

32

25
26
27
28
29
30S
31N

What we know from the science of neuroplasticity: “[T]he realization that theadult brain retains impressive powers . . . ​to change its structure and function in
response to experience”: Begley S. 2007. How the brain rewires itself. Time, January
19. See also Doidge N. 2007. The Brain That Changes Itself. New York: Viking.
all children learn their experience: “Experience coupled with attention leads tophysical changes in the structure and functioning of the nervous system”: Decharms
RC, Merzenich M. 1996. Neural representations, experience and change. In Llinàs R,
Churchland PS, eds. The Mind-Brain Continuum. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
what your child “should” be doing now according to age and known develop‑
mental stages: Many of the researchers who identified such stages intended them not
as dogma but as indicators of a developmental process. Gesell A. 1940. The First Five
Years of Life: A Guide to the Study of the Pre-School Child. New York: Harper &Brothers.

34

Our brains . . . ​create order out of chaos: Evidence shows that the cerebral cortex
shows ongoing activity in the absence of a stimulus that is comparable in size to­stimulus-​­driven activity. Murphy BK, Miller KD. 2009. Balanced amplification: A
new mechanism of selective amplification of neural activity patterns. Neuron 61: ­635–​­48. Lewis MD. 2005. ­Self-​­organizing individual differences in brain development.
Developmental Review 25: ­252–​­77.
After a child is born, she is just beginning to discover that she is a separate
being in the world: Evidence suggests neonates have awareness of themselves as
differentiated and unique entity in the world. Rochat P, Hespos SJ. 1997. Differential
rooting response by neonates: Evidence for an early sense of self. Early Development
and Parenting 6(2): 150.­​1–.​8. Rochat P. 2003. Five levels of ­self-​­awareness as they
unfold early in life. Consciousness and Cognition 12: ­717–​­31.
The child’s ability to notice differences . . . ​is the source of information forthe brain: Physiologically, the basis of all sensory perception is contrast. Guyton AC.
1981. Textbook of Medical Physiology. Philadelphia: Saunders.
Recently researchers Michael Merzenich and colleagues: Merzenich and his
team at the University of California San Francisco have done experiments to show theimportance of what he terms randomized movements. Coq J‑O, Byl N, Merzenich
MM. 2004. Effects of sensorimotor restriction and anoxia on gait and motor cortex
organization: Implications for a rodent model of cerebral palsy. Neuroscience 129(1):­141–​­56.
Kassi’s brain was . . . ​organizing a growing complement of sensations withfiner and finer differentiation: As we gain experience we gain control throughusing our muscles in a more refined and precise way. This process has been demonstrated in the brain. Jenkins WM, Merzenich MM, Ochs MT, et al. 1990. Functional
reorganization of primary somatosensory cortex in adult owl monkeys after behavior-

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 240

22/09/12 11:40 AM

References / 2413544ally controlled tactile stimulation. Journal of Neurophysiology 63(1): ­82–​­104. Nudo RJ,
Milliken GW, Jenkins WM, Merzenich MM. 1996. ­Use-​­dependent alterations of
movement representations in primary motor cortex of adult squirrel monkeys. Journalof Neuroscience 16(2): ­785–​­807.
The brain uses information it acquires through perceiving differences to cre‑ate new connections between different brain cells; this capacity is called differentiation: Differentiation is a fundamental process underlying all forms of life.
Prasad KN. 1980. Regulation of differentiation in mammalian nerve cells. Plenum,
NY. Scientists are able to measure and track the process of differentiation as it is taking place in the brain. Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 2007. Scientist observes brain
cell development in “Real Time.” ScienceDaily, May 29. Mizrahi A. 2007. Dendritic
development and plasticity of ­adult-​­born neurons in the mouse olfactory bulb. Nature
Neuroscience 10(4): ­4 44–​­52.
Those connections come together in complex, dynamic, responsive, and con‑tinuously evolving patterns: For research describing development in terms of complex dynamic systems see Smith LB, Thelen E. 2003. Development as a dynamic
system. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 7(8): ­343–​­48. Thelen E, Smith LB. 1996. A
Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press.

48

48

03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
16

Research shows that movement done automatically creates little or no newconnections in the brain: “[T]he variable determining whether or not the brainchanges is . . . ​t he attentional state of the animal.” Schwartz J, Begley S. 2002, rpnt
2003. The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force. New
York: HarperCollins. Recanzone G.​H, Merzenich MM, Jenkins WM, et al. 1992.
Topographic reorganization of the hand representation in cortical area 3b of owl monkeys trained in a frequency discrimination task. Journal of Neurophysiology 67: ­1031–​­56. Nudo RJ, Milliken GW, Jenkins WM, Merzenich MM. 1996 ­Use-​­dependent
alterations of movement representations in primary motor cortex of adult squirrel
monkeys. Journal of Neuroscience 16: ­785–​­807. See Doidge N. 2007. The Brain That
Changes Itself. New York: Viking/​Penguin.
when attention is brought to movement, the brain creates new connections
and possibilities at an incredibly rapid rate: My teacher and colleague, Moshe
Feldenkrais, used movement to increase awareness, which in turn helped to upgrade
people’s functioning, often in breakthrough ways; he had his students pay close attention while moving as a way to enhance functioning. However, he did not formulate
Movement with Attention as an Essential per se, that is, distinct from awareness.
What it does do is reinforce or “groove in” the existing patterns more deeply:
The more often one nerve cell excites another the more likely they are to fire together
in the future, or “Cells that fire together wire together.” Hebb DO. The Organization

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 241

0215

4. Essential One: Movement with Attention
48

01

22/09/12 11:40 AM

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
S30
N31

242 / References

01
02
03

48

04
05
06
07
08
09
10

48

11
12
13

49

14
15
16
17

52

18
19
20
21
22

53

23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30S
31N

53

of Behavior. New York: Wiley. 1949. McClelland JL. How far can you go with Hebbianlearning, and when does it lead you astray? Available at www.​psych.​stanford.​edu/~jlm/​
papers/​McClellandIPHowFar.​pdf.
a young child’s brain forms 1.​8 million new connections per second: A conservative estimate of the total number of synapses in the adult brain is 100,000,000,000,000,
or 100 trillion. The formation of synapses begins in the cerebral ­cortex—​­for example,
during the 7th week of gestation and continues well into childhood. It is estimatedthat at its peak each neuron forms an average of 15,000 connections. See Gopnik A.,
Meltzoff AN, Kuhl PK. 1999. The Scientist in the Crib: Minds, Brains and How Chil‑dren Learn. New York: William Morrow. Eliot L. 1999. What’s Going on in There?
How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life. New York: Bantam.
Ratey JJ. 2000. A User’s Guide to the Brain. New York: Pantheon. 2000.
a two-month-old infant lies in his crib watching in endless fascination as his
own hand moves in space: See Gerber M, ed. 1979. The RIE Manual for Parents
and Professionals. Los Angeles: Resources for Infant Educarers. See also Rochat P.
2003. Five levels of ­self-​­awareness as they unfold early in life. Consciousness andCognition 12: ­717–​­31.
the little boy has to pay attention to his movements: When goals are blocked, theemotion they raise and the attention they demand provide a rich set of conditions forlearning to occur. Lewis MD, Todd RM. 2005. Getting ­emotional—​­A neural perspective on emotion, intention and consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies 12(­8–​­10): 2­ 13–​­38.
Think of Movement with Attention as bringing about a virtual explosion ofactivity in the brain: Scans showed high levels of activity in the prefrontal cortex
during new learning but not once the performance became routine. Jueptner M,
Stephan K, Frith CD, et al. 1997. Anatomy of motor learning. I. Frontal Ccrtex andattention to Action. Journal of Neurophysiology 77(3): ­1313–​­24. ­Johansen-​­Berg H,
Matthews PM. 2002. Attention to movement modulates activity in ­sensori-​­motor
areas, including primary motor cortex. Experimental Brain Research 142(1): 1­ 3–​­24.
At such times, the quality of information that the brain generates is very
high, creating order from disorder: Creating order from disorder is a major focusof the science of chaos theory and complexity. Edelmann G.​M, Tononi,G. 2000. A
Universe of Consciousness: How Matter Becomes Imagination. New York: Basic
Books.
brain connections created through one activity can be applied in infinite andpredictable and unpredictable ways in developing other skills: As a childlearns, different elements will come together to produce something entirely new andsurprising. Levels of constructions of movements. Latash ML, Tuvey MT, eds. On
Dexterity and Its Development. Translated by ML Latash. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum. Bernstein NA. 1996b.​On exercise and Motor Skill. In Latash ML, Tuvey
MT, eds. On Dexterity and Its Development. Translated by ML Latash. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum. See also Thelen E, Smith LB. 1996. A Dynamic Systems
Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 242

22/09/12 11:40 AM

References / 243
58

58

58

59

61

61

“The practice of intentional, nonjudgmental awareness of moment to moment
experience has been practiced since ancient times”: Siegel, D. The science ofmindfulness. Available at http://​​mindful.​org/­​the-​­science/​medicine/­​the-​­science‑of‑​mindfulness. Awareness as an action has been practiced and developed for centuries
in the Buddhist tradition and is now the subject of intense scientific scrutiny. Barinaga
M. 2003. Studying the ­well-​­trained mind: Buddhist monks and Western scientists arecomparing notes on how the mind works and collaborating to test insights gleaned
from meditation. Science 302(5642): ­4 4–​­46. Lutz A, Greischar LL, Rawlings NB,
Davidson R. 2004. ­Long-​­term meditators ­self-​­induce ­high-​­amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
USA 16: ­16369–​­73.
“adults and adolescents with attentional problems achieved more executivefunction improvements (sustaining attention, diminishing distractibility)
than are accomplished with medication for this condition.” Siegel DJ. The science of mindful awareness and the human capacity to cultivate mindsight and neural
integration. Available at www.​instituteofcoaching.​org/​images/​ARticles/​Mindful%​20A​
wareness.​pdf. Recent scientific findings demonstrate the benefits of practicing mindfulness in many areas of life. See Hanson R, Mendius R. 2009. Buddha’s Brain: The
Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
Siegel D. 2010. Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation. New York:
Bantam.
In experiments with owl monkeys: Recanzone, G.​H, Merzenich MM, Jenkins
WM, et al. 1992. Topographic reorganization of the hand representation in corticalarea 3b of owl monkeys trained in a frequency discrimination task. Journal of Neuro‑physiology 67: ­1031–​­56. Nudo RJ, Milliken G.​W, Jenkins WM, Merzenich MM. 1996
­Use-​­dependent alterations of movement representations in primary motor cortex ofadult squirrel monkeys. Journal of Neuroscience 16: ­785–​­807.
“Experience coupled with attention leads to physical changes in the struc‑ture and functioning of the nervous system”: Merzenich MM, deCharms RC.
1996. Neural representations, experience and change.” In Llinàs R, Churchland PS,
eds. The Mind-Brain Continuum. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Scientific research demonstrates the importance of playfulness, joy and fun
for successful growth and learning: Play contributes to the growth and development of the brain. Byers JA, Walker C. 1995. Refining the motor training hypothesis
for the evolution of play. American Naturalist 146(1): ­25–​­40. Play actually shapes thebrain. Gordon NS, Burke S, Akil H, Panksepp J. 2003. ­Socially-​­induced brain “fertilization”: Play promotes brain derived neurotrophic factor in the amygdala and dorsolateral frontal cortex in juvenile rats. Neuroscience Letters 341: ­17–​­20. See also Pellis
SM, Pellis VC. 2010. The Playful Brain: Venturing to the Limits of Neuroscience.
Oxford: Oneworld.
These are also manifestations of attentioning that elevate the quality of thefunctioning of your child’s brain: The novelty that accompanies play sparks exploration and learning. Bunzeck N, Duzel E. 2006. Absolute coding of stimulus novelty

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 243

22/09/12 11:40 AM

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
S30
N31

244 / References

01
02
03

61

04
05

65

06
07
08

65

09
10
11

in the human substantia nigra/​V TA. Neuron 51: ­369–​­79. See also Anonymous. 2006.
Pure novelty spurs the brain. Medical News Today, August.
are always associated with an increased sense of well-being: Free, imaginative
play is crucial for normal social, emotional, and cognitive development and our ­well-​­being. When free play is lacking the results can be disastrous. Wenner M. 2009. The
serious need for play. Scientific American Mind, February March: ­22–​­29.
Then if you have some inkling about what he’s trying to communicate, ask
him: “Are you asking about ———?”: For ­t hought-​­provoking research into how
speech develops, see Bronson P, Merryman A. 2009. Nurtureshock: New Thinking
About Children. New York: Twelve/​Hachette Book Group.
when touch is lacking, it can have serious consequences for the child’s devel‑
opment: Deprivation of normal social experience or maternal contact has damaging
effects in a number of areas, the more deprivation the more disastrous. Harlow HF,
Suomi SJ. 1971. Social recovery by ­isolation-​­reared monkeys. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, USA 68(7): ­1534–​­38.

12
13
14

5. Essential Two: Slow
74

15
16
17

74

18
19
20
21

76

22
23
24

76

25
26
27
28
29
30S
31N

77

Fast we can do only what we already know: See Libet B, Gleason CA, Wright
EW, and Pearl DK. 1983. Time of conscious intention to act in relation to onset of
cerebral activity (readiness potential): The unconscious intention of a freely voluntaryact. Brain 106: 6­ 23–​­42.
And it is important to hold off on fast until the brain has formed the neces‑sary connections and patterns for performing that skill: Then we can speed up
successfully and even develop strong intuition in that area. Kahnman D. 2003. A perspective on judgement and choice: Mapping bounded rationality. American Psycholo‑
gist 58: ­697–​­720.
The feeling of what happens is at the core of everything we do: Emotions are
critical in ensuring our survival and allowing us to think. Eakin E. 2003. I feel therefore I am. New York Times, April 19. Damasio AR. 1994. Descartes’ Error: Emotion,
Reason, and the Human Brain. New York: Grosset/​Putnam.
When we go fast, the brain has no option but to revert to already existing pat‑terns: Scientific research shows that we can either react automatically with a short
reaction time of 0.​25 second or less or act consciously with a delayed reaction time of
0.​5 second or more. See Norretranders T. 1998. The User Illusion: Cutting Conscious‑
ness Down to Size. New York: Viking/​Penguin. Norretranders’s writings are based on
an interview with Libet that took place on March ­26–​­27, 1991, in San Francisco. See
Libet B, Gleason CA, Wright EW, and Pearl DK. 1983. Time of conscious intention toact in relation to onset of cerebral activity (readiness potential): The unconscious
intention of a freely voluntary act. Brain 106: ­623–​­42.
Slow is a great tool for getting there: The learning of any skill involves putting
together elements that have been formed by learning to do something else previously.

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 244

22/09/12 11:40 AM

References / 245

79

83

83

83

Going slowly allows the brain to figure out what in its existing repertoire may be useful, allowing the new skill to emerge. Bernstein NA. 1996. On exercise and motor skill,
In Latash ML, Tuvey MT, eds. On Dexterity and Its Development. Translated by ML
Latash. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. See also Thelen E, Smith LB. 1996. A
Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Current brain science confirms . . . ​the critical importance of Slow: Whendeveloping his Fast ForWord program, Michael Merzenich saw the underlying problem of children with language and learning impairment as one of signal and ­noise—​­t hat is, the inability to filter out or generate meaningful information from backgroundstimuli rather than a lack of stimulation per se. Merzenich MM, Tallal P, Miller SL, etal.​1996. Language comprehension in ­language-​­learning impaired children improved
with acoustically modified speech. Science 271(5245): ­81–​­84.
Parents are told to place infants as young as two weeks old on their bellies—
what is called “tummy time”: Despite the fact that many infants are distressed byit, the advice to put young infants on their belly while awake arose after the findingsof the connection between children sleeping on their bellies and sudden infant death
syndrome (SIDS). Anonymous. 1992. Positioning and SIDS AAP Task Force on Infant
Positioning and SIDS. Pediatrics 89: ­1120–​­26. Anonymous. 1996. Positioning and sudden infant death Ssndrome (SIDS): ­Update—​­Task Force on Infant Positioning and
SIDS. Pediatrics 98:­1216–​­18. Davis BE, Moon RY, Sachs HC, and Ottolini MC. 1998.
Effects of sleep position on infant motor development. Pediatrics 102(5): ­1135–​­40.
“Man has absolutely the most protracted period of infancy, childhood andjuvenility of all forms of life”: Nearly 30 percent of a human’s life is devoted to
growing. Quoted in Gould SJ. 2007. Ever Since Darwin. Rev. ed. New York: W. W.
Norton. See also, Krogman WM. 1972. Child Growth. Ann Arbor. MI: University ofMichigan Press.
When we compare the speed at which humans reach developmental mile‑stones with that of chimpanzees: Sources consulted during the composition of thispassage include the following: ­Chevalier-​­Skolnikoff S. 1983. Sensorimotor development in orangutans and other primates. Journal of Human Evolution 12: ­545–​­61.
Domingo Balcells C, Veà Baró JJ. 2009. Developmental stages in the howler monkey,
subspecies Alouatta palliata mexicana: A new classification using ­age-​­sex categories.
Neotropical Primates 16(1): ­1–​­8. Gerber M, ed. 1979. The RIE Manual for Parents
and Professionals. Los Angeles: Resources for Infant Educarers. Gesell A. 1940. The
First Five Years of Life: A Guide to the Study of the Pre-School Child. New York:
Harper & Brothers. Eisenberg A, Murkoff H, Hathaway S. 1989. What to Expect theFirst Year. New York: Workman. Reynolds V. 1967. The Apes: The Gorilla, Chimpan‑
zee, Orangutan and Gibbon: Their History and Their World. London: Cassell.
Schaller GB. 1963. The Mountain Gorilla; Ecology and Behavior. Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press. Schultz AH. 1969. The Life of Primates. New York: Universe Books.
Van ­Lawick-​­Goodall J. 1971. In the Shadow of Man. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Watts
ES. 1985. Adolescent growth and development of monkeys, apes and humans. In

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 245

22/09/12 11:40 AM

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
S30
N31

246 / References

01
02
03
04

86
87

05
06
07

89

08
09
10

89

11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30S
31N

Watts ES, ed. Nonhuman Primate Models for Human Growth and Development.
New York: Alan R. Liss.
Stephen Jay Gould writes: “Human babies are born as embryos”: Gould SJ.
1977. Ever Since Darwin. New York: W. W. Norton.
What does matter is the underlying process that leads the child to accomplishthat milestone: “Do not look for linear increases in a single . . . ​function but for progressive patterns of maturity. Nor should we look for static absolutes. Nothing is.
Everything is becoming.” Gesell A. 1940. The First Five Years of Life: A Guide to the
Study of the Pre-School Child. New York: Harper & Brothers.
Merzenich, using the principle of slowing the child and the process down,
developed a software program called Fast ForWord; Merzenich MM, Tallal P,
Miller SL, et al. 1996. Language comprehension in ­language-​­learning impaired children improved with acoustically modified speech. Science 271(5245): ­81–​­84.
children with autism were showing improvements in listening, attention, andfocus; in handwriting; and in general mental processing, indicating that theirbrains improved as a whole: One study showed that Fast ForWord quickly moved
autistic children from severe language impairment to the normal range. Merzenich
MM, Saunders G, Jenkins WM, et al. 1999. Pervasive developmental disorders: Listening training and language possibilities. In Broman SH, Fletcher JM, eds. The
Changing Nervous System: Neurobehavioral Consequences of Early Brain Disor‑ders. New York: Oxford University Press. Another pilot study of 100 autistic children
showed that Fast ForWord had a significant impact on their autistic symptoms. Melzer
M, Poglitsch G. November 1998. Functional changes reported after Fast ForWord
training for 100 children with autistic spectrum disorders. Paper presentation to theAmerican Speech Language and Hearing Association, San Francisco. See also Tallal
P, Merzenich M, Miller S, Jenkins W. 1998. Language learning impairment: Integrating research and remediation. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 39: ­197–​­99.
Rubenstein JL, Merzenich MM, et al. 2003. Model of autism: Increased ratio of excitation/​inhibition in key neural systems. Genes, Brain and Behavior 2: ­255–​­67.

6. Essential Three: Variation
95
96

In the first three years of life, the brain grows fourfold, reaching 80 percent
of its adult weight: Gould SJ. 1977. Ever Since Darwin. New York: W. W. Norton..
The brain itself creates variation all the time: “Thus, and this is the most important note that we are going to make, the motor skill involved in even a very simple andmonotonous movement cannot be a movement formula. . . . ​It is the ability to find asolution across a range of variations.” Bernstein NA. 1996. On exercise and motor skill.
In Latash ML, Tuvey MT, eds. On Dexterity and Its Development. Translated by M
L Latash. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Furthermore, no one learns a skill
directly through practicing that skill: “A human starts learning a movement because
he cannot do it. . . . ​The essence and objective of exercise is to improve the move-

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 246

22/09/12 11:40 AM

References / 247
ments, that is, to change them. Therefore, correct exercise is in fact a repetition without repetition.” Ibid.
96 If we eliminated all variation in our environment we would actually beunable to function: Eliminating variation has such a powerful effect on us that paranoid psychosis has been reported in prisoners in solitary confinement, in­communication-​­deprived refugees, and in the hard of hearing. Ziskind E. 1964. A
second look at sensory deprivation. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 138:­223–​­32. Recent research has shown that as little as 15 minutes of near complete deprivation of sight and sound leads to increases in several aspects of ­psychotic-​­like experience.
Mason O, Brady F. 2009. The psychotomimetic effects of ­short-​­term sensory deprivation. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 197(10): 7­ 83–​­85.
97 known as developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH): For more information
about this condition and its surgical treatment, visit the Lucile Packard Children’s
Hospital at Stanford website, www.​lpch.​org.
99 I was very aware of his phantom cast; for Michael, even though the cast was
no longer there, it was real: The phenomenon known as phantom limb is felt by
amputees, who sense that missing arm or leg is still present and in many cases caneven feel pain. It is relatively easy to generate such illusions in otherwise normal individuals, and experiments suggest that inanimate objects may be assimilated into aperson’s own body image. Ramachandran VS, Hirstein W. 1998. The perception ofphantom limbs. Brain 121: ­1603–​­30.
101 In 1990 a group of brain scientists set up a very interesting research projectwith four separate groups of adult rats: Black JE, Isaacs KR, Anderson BJ, et al.
1990. Learning causes synaptogenesis, whereas motor activity causes angiogenesis, incerebellar cortex of adult rats. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA
87: ­5568–​­72.
103 Researcher Melissa A. Schilling and colleagues state: Schilling, MA, Vidal P,
Ployhart RE, Marangoni A. 2003. Learning by doing something else: Variation, relatedness, and the learning curve. Management Science 49(1): ­39–​­56.

02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

7. Essential Four: Subtlety

23

114 what Ernst Heinrich Weber, a psychophysiologist, discovered more than acentury ago: The ­Weber-​­Fechner law emphasizes that the greater the intensity of the
background sensory stimulus, the harder it is to perceive a change. See Uppsala University. 2004. The Weber Fechner law. Available at www.​neuro.​uu.​se/​f ysiologi/​gu/​
nbb/​lectures/​WebFech.​html. Guyton AC. 1981. Textbook of Medical Physiology. Philadelphia: Saunders.
123 “Thinking is the same fundamental process in the brain as organizing move‑
ment.” Merzenich M. April 2009. Lecture on brain plasticity to students in the Anat
Baniel Method Professional Training Program. Anat Baniel Method Center, San
Rafael, CA.

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 247

01

22/09/12 11:40 AM

24
25
26
27
28
29
S30
N31

248 / References

01
02
03
04
05
06
07

127 Researchers have found that babies’ ability to recognize differences followed
the same Weber-Fechner law: Infants as young as six month olds perceive differencesin number in accordance with the ­Weber-​­Fechner law. Lipton JS, Spelke ES. 2003. Origins of number sense: ­Large-​­number discrimination in human infants. Psychological Sci‑
ence 14(5): ­396–​­401. Subsequent research suggests that all information that can beconceptualized in ordinal (more vs. less) terms may share representational mechanisms
in the brain, including number, space, and time; among other possible candidate dimensions are speed, loudness, luminance, and even less obvious sources of magnitude information, such as emotional expression. Lourenco SF, Longo MR. 2010. General magnitude
representation in human infants. Psychological Science 21(6): ­873–​­81.

08
09

8. Essential Five: Enthusiasm

10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30S
31N

133 Think of enthusiasm as a skill: Enthusiasm amplifies our experience, and amplification is a characteristic of many biological systems. Guyton AC. 1981. Textbook of
Medical Physiology. Philadelphia: Saunders. Murphy BK, Miller KD. 2009. Balanced
amplification: A new mechanism of selective amplification of neural activity patterns.
Neuron 61: ­635–​­48. Lewis MD. 2005. S­ elf-​­organizing individual differences in brain
development. Developmental Review 25: ­252–​­77.
134 In 1996 Giacomo Rizzolatti, a neuroscientist at the University of Parma, dis‑covered the activity of mirror neurons in the brain: As early as the 1980s Rizzolatti and his colleagues identified a type of brain cell that fires when observing theactions of another. Rizzolatti G, Fadiga L, Gallese V, Fogassi, L. 1996. Premotor cortex and the recognition of motor actions. Cognitive Brain Research 3: ­131–​­41. Recent
research suggests the mirror neuron system to be key in the learning of language,
empathy, and emotions. Craighero L, Metta G., Sandini G., Fadiga L. 2007. The­mirror-​­neurons system: Data and models. Progress in Brain Research 164(3): ­39–​­59.
However, the exact level of involvement and indeed the involvement of other as yet
unknown mechanisms are still matters for debate. Debes R. 2009. Which empathy?
Limitations in the mirrored “understanding” of emotion. Synthese 175(2): ­219–​­39.
Oberman LM, Ramachandran VS. 2007. The simulating social mind: The role of themirror neuron system and simulation in the social and communicative deficits ofautism spectrum disorders. Psychology Bulletin 133: ­310–​­27. Singer T, Seymour B,
O’Doherty J, et al. 2004. Empathy for pain involves the affective but not the sensory
components of pain. Science 303(5661): ­1157–​­62. Singer T. 2006. The neuronal basis
and ontogeny of empathy and mind reading. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
30(6): ­855–​­63. Niedenthal P. 2007. Embodying emotion. Science 316(5827): ­1002–​­0 5. Gallagher H, Frith C. 2003. Functional imaging of “theory of mind.” Trends in
Cognitive Sciences 7: ­77–​­83. See Hanson R, Mendius R. 2009. Buddha’s Brain: The
Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
134 “The human brain has multiple mirror neuron systems”: Blakeslee S. Cells that
read minds. 2006. New York Times, January 10.

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 248

22/09/12 11:40 AM

References / 249
139 His experience itself is the reinforcement: The spontaneous excitement of doing
something new essentially gets his brain to select the relevant connections that are
being formed. LeDoux J. 2002. Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are.
New York: Viking/​Penguin. The emotional arousal facilitates learning by increasingneural excitation and consolidating synaptic change. Lewis MD. 2005. ­Self-​­organizing
individual differences in brain development. Developmental Review 25: ­252–​­77.
141 I have also observed that when pressure was placed on a child to repeat his
performance of a newly acquired skill, this new skill often seems to disap‑
pear: See Siegel D. 2003. Parenting from the Inside Out. New York: Tarcher/​Penguin.
143 Others’ emotions as well as our own can affect us, even when we are not con‑sciously aware of it: The way people behave around us has a direct influence on us
without requiring our full attention or requiring that the visual stimulus be consciously seen. Sinke CBA, Kret ME, de Gelder B. 2011. Body language: Embodied
perception of emotion. In Berglund B, Rossi GB, Townsend JT, Pendrill LR, eds..
Measurements with Persons: Theory, Methods and Implementation Areas. Abingdon,
Oxfordshire, UK: Psychology Press/​Taylor & Francis. Kret ME, Sinke CBA, de Gelder
B. 2011. Emotion perception and health. In Nyklicek I, Vingerhoets A, Zeelenberg M,
eds. Emotion Regulation and Well-Being. New York: Springer.
143 And these emotions can initiate synaptic changes, activating new neural con‑nections: Current research and theory point ever more clearly to the link between
our emotions and our brain’s ability and tendency to learn. Ikemoto S, Panksepp J.
1999. The role of nucleus accumbens dopamine in motivated behavior: A unifying
interpretation with special reference to ­reward-​­seeking. Brain Research Reviews
31(1): 6­ –​­41.
143 it is easy for him to acquire feelings of learned helplessness: See Seligman M.
2006. Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. New York: Free
Press.
143 A fearful face is fast-tracked to the amygdala: Yang E, Zald DH, Blake R. 2007.
Fearful expressions gain preferential access to awareness during continuous flash suppression. Emotion 7(4): 8­ 82–​­86.
143 Studies have shown that even when researchers made fearful faces that wereinvisible to conscious awareness: Jiang Y, He S. 2006, Cortical responses to invisible faces: Dissociating subsystems for ­facial-​­information processing. Current Biology
16: ­2023–​­29.
143 places the child’s brain in a “motive state,” coordinating information process‑ing in the brain: LeDoux J. 2002. Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We
Are. New York: Viking/​Penguin.
144 These emotions are generally manifest as stress: Too much cortisol can damage
receptors in the hypothalamus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex, affecting mood andmemory and leading to hyperreactivity to stress. Fogel A. 2009. The Psychophysiol‑
ogy of Self-Awareness: Rediscovering the Lost Art of Body Sense. New York:W. W. Norton. Lewis MD. 2005. ­Self-​­organizing individual differences in brain development. Developmental Review 25: ­252–​­77.

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 249

22/09/12 11:40 AM

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
S30
N31

250 / References

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

147 Focusing on these feelings increases the release of dopamine: Dopamine andoxytocin (the bonding hormone) mediate strong pleasant, rewarding situations likefalling in love and cause the human brain to expand its neural model of the self.
Nicolelis M. 2011. Beyond Boundaries: The New Neuroscience of Connecting Brains
with Machines—And How It Will Change Our Lives. New York: Times Books. Young L.
2009. Being human; Love; Neuroscience reveals all. Nature 457(7226): 148. Young
L, Zuoxin W. 2004. The neurobiology of pair bonding. Nature Neuroscience 7(10):­1048–​­54.
149 recalling, strengthening, and accessing feelings in this way . . . ​has beenshown to lead to measurable changes in neural structures in our brains: The
longer something is held in awareness and the more emotionally stimulating it is, themore neurons that fire and thus wire together, and the stronger the trace in the memory. Lewis MD. 2005. ­Self-​­organizing individual differences in brain development.
Developmental Review 25(­3 –​­4): ­252–​­77. Hanson R, Mendius R. 2009. Buddha’s
Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love & Wisdom. Oakland, CA: New
Harbinger.
151 “Moment by moment we choose and sculpt how our ever changing minds willwork”: Merzenich MM, deCharms RC. 1996. Neural representations, experienceand change. In Llinàs R, Churchland PS, eds. The Mind-Brain Continuum. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

9. Essential Six: Flexible Goals

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30S
31N

154 Baboons in the Kalahari Desert have excellent caches of water: This story ispresented in the 1975 documentary film Animals Are Beautiful People, written, produced, and directed by J. Uys.
161 ways for her brain to differentiate and produce small changes at the edges ofwhat she was already able to do: Thanks to science and technology, we can now see
and hear this process of a young child learning speech in action. Deb Roy: The birthof a word [TED]. Available at www.​youtube.​com/​watch?​v=​VwgkT34g61w.
163 Play It as It Lays: Didion J. 1970. Play It as It Lays. New York: Farrar Straus &Giroux.
164 One example of imposing a rigid goal is the practice called tummy time: It istrue that babies who are subject to such efforts do tend to reach some of the earlier
milestones a bit sooner. ­Dudek-​­Shriber L, Zelazny S. 2007. The effects of prone positioning on the quality and acquisition of developmental milestones in ­four-​­month-​­old
infants. Research report. Pediatric Physical Therapy 19(1): ­48–​­55.
164 A number of followup studies: Kuo YL, Liao HF, Chen PC, et al. 2008. The influence of wakeful prone positioning on motor development during the early life. Journalof Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics 29(5): ­367–​­76. See also Davis BE, Moon
RY, Sachs HC, Ottolini MC. 1998. Effects of sleep position on infant motor development. Pediatrics 102(5): ­1135–​­40.

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 250

22/09/12 11:40 AM

References / 251
165 One of the studies of tummy time focused on infants with low birth weight:
Monterosso L, Kristjanson L, Cole J. 2002. Neuromotor development and the physiologic effects of positioning in very low birth weight infants. Journal of ObstetricGynecologic and Neonatal Nursing 31(2): ­138–​­46.
165 “parents and other persons engaged in childcare”: Strassburg HM, Bretthauer
Y, Kustermann W. 2006. Continuous documentation of the development of infants bymeans of a questionnaire for the parents. Early Child Development and Care 176(5):­493–​­504. See also Pikler E. 1988. Lasst mir Zeit: die sebstaendige Bewegungsent‑
wicklung des Kindes bis zum freien Gehen (Give me time: The independent movement development of a child up to free walking). Munich: ­Pflaum-​­Verlag. Pikler E.
1997. Miteinander vertraut werden (To gain trust with one another). Freiburg/​Breisgau: ­Herder-​­Vertlag. Pikler E. 1999. Friedliche Babys, zufriedene Muetter (Peacefulbabies, contented mothers). Freiburg/​Breisgau: ­Herder-​­Vertlag.
166 “Not only did the children learn to sit stand and walk by themselves”: Pikler
E. 1968. Some contributions to the study of gross motor development of children.
Journal of Genetic Psychology 113: ­27–​­39.
166 “We regard the secure and well balanced movements of the children rearedin our institute as significant”: Pikler E. 1972. Data on gross motor development on
the infant. Early Child Development and Care 1: ­297–​­310.
166 among the fourteen hundred children who were raised in her institute: Pikler
E 1968. Some contributions to the study of gross motor development of children.
Journal of Genetic Psychology 113: ­27–​­39. Strassburg HM, Bretthauer Y, Kustermann W. 2006. Continuous documentation of the development of infants by means ofa questionnaire for the parents. Early Child Development and Care 176(5): ­493–​­504.

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

10. Essential Seven: The Learning Switch
171 It is an actual change in the way your brain is working: “We all know that thebrain can be in a learning mode or a ­non-​­learning mode; we just don’t fully understandwhat that mechanism is.” Mark Latash, personal communication, 2007. Latash is theauthor of Neurophysiological Basis of Human Movement (Champaign, IL: Human
Kinetics, 1998) and distinguished professor of kinesiology at the Pennsylvania State
University.
172 Using an electroencephalogram to measure brain waves: Certain patterns characteristic of childhood become less common in adulthood but are seen in dreaming,in creative states, and during meditation. Oken B, Salinsky M. 1992. Alertness andattention: Basic science and electrophysiologic correlates. Journal of Clinical Neuro‑physiology 9(4): ­480–​­94.
172 When it is turned on, the brain is receptive: Anticipation can affect perception.
By directing our attention we can alter what we perceive of our environment. ­Kanwisher
N, Downing P. 1998. Separating the wheat from the chaff. Science 282(5386):­57–​­58.

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 251

22/09/12 11:40 AM

20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
S30
N31

252 / References

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30S

176 in areas that are not directly or obviously connected to the known problems:
The Fast ForWord program designed to help with language learning has been shown
to provide general improvements in mental processing. Merzenich MM, Saunders G,
Jenkins WM, et al. 1999. Pervasive developmental disorders: Listening training andlanguage possibilities. In Broman SH, Fletcher JM, eds. The Changing Nervous Sys‑
tem: Neurobehavioral Consequences of Early Brain Disorders. New York: Oxford
University Press. Fast ForWord has also had a significant impact on autistic symptoms.
Melzer M, Poglitsch G. November 1998. Functional changes reported after Fast ForWord training for 100 children with autistic spectrum disorders. Paper presented to
the American Speech Language and Hearing Association, San Francisco. See Doidge
N. 2007. The Brain That Changes Itself. New York: Viking/​Penguin.
179 While the term Learning Switch does not describe a mechanical device in thebrain: When arousal is sufficient, the brain is responsive to stimuli and learning cantake place. LeDoux J. 2002. Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are.
New York: Viking/​Penguin. Emotional arousal facilitates learning by increasing neural excitation and consolidating synaptic change. Lewis MD. 2005. ­Self-​­organizing
individual differences in brain development. Developmental Review 25: ­252–​­77.
Forebrain arousal and motivational controls have been shown to modulate reorganization of the auditory cortex in response to new learning experiences. Kilgard MP, Merzenich MM. 1998. Cortical map reorganization enabled by nucleus basalis activity.
Science n.​s. 279(5357): ­1714–​­18; Research findings suggest that events that are notemotionally significant may not maintain arousal or attention long enough for learning
to take place. Lewis MD. 2005. Bridging emotion theory and neurobiology throughdynamic systems modeling. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28: ­169–​­245.
179 there are chemicals in the brain, called neuromodulators: Neuromodulators
are neurotransmitters and neuropeptides manufactured in the brainstem and hypothalamus that are released in large volumes, at many synapses simultaneously, farfrom their sites of origin. Izquierdo I. 1997. The biochemistry of memory formationand its regulation by hormones and neuromodulators. Psychobiology 25: ­1–​­9. The
effects of neuromodulators are global rather than local, providing a key mechanism bywhich motivational concerns influence cognitive and perceptual processes and hence
learning. Lewis MD. 2005. Bridging emotion theory and neurobiology throughdynamic systems modeling. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28: ­169–​­245.
180 Emotions, most brain researchers agree, also guide our attention, which isnecessary for any new learning to occur: Cognition in general and attention inparticular are assumed to be guided by emotional relevance. Isen AM. 1984. Toward
understanding the role of affect in cognition. In Wyer, RS, Srull TK, eds. Handbookof Social Cognition. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Dodge KA. 1991. Emotion and social
information processing. In Garber J, Dodge KA, eds. The Development of Emotion
Regulation and Dysregulation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Renninger KA, Hidi S, Krapp A. 1992. The Role of Interest in Learning and Development.
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. See Lewis MD, Todd RM. 2005. Getting ­emotional—​­A neu-

31N

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 252

22/09/12 11:40 AM

References / 253
ral perspective on emotion, intention and consciousness. Journal of Consciousness
Studies 12(­8 –​­10): 2­ 13–​­38.
180 “The ability to respond to threat and to seek safety is the most important jobof our nervous system”: Fogel A. 2009. The Psychophysiology of Self-Awareness:
Rediscovering the Lost Art of Body Sense. New York: W. W. Norton.
180	A prolonged stress response to threat (perceived or real) is particularly dam‑
aging: The stress response to threat is mediated by cortisol, which can damage receptors in the brain and affect mood, memory, and hyperreactivity to stress. Fogel A.
2009. The Psychophysiology of Self-Awareness: Rediscovering the Lost Art of Body
Sense. New York: W. W. Norton. Lewis MD. 2005. ­Self-​­organizing individual differences in brain development. Developmental Review 25: ­252–​­77.
180 Safety, connection with the parent, playfulness, joy, comfort, acceptance, andlove: Isen AM. 1990. The influence of positive and negative affect on cognitive organization: Some implications for development. In Stein N, Leventhal B, Trabasso T,
eds. Psychological and Biological Processes in the Development of Emotion. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Conversely, anxiety narrows attention to specific themes or perceptions. Mathews A. 1990. Why worry? The cognitive function of anxiety. Behavior
Research and Therapy 28: 4­ 55–​­68.
183 Researchers have discovered that the ideal span of time for learning is no
more than twenty minutes: The study assessed student’s recall of chemistry information following a lecture. Ralph A. May ­22–​­25, 1985. Information impact and factors affecting recall. Paper presented at the Seventh Annual National Conference on
Teaching Excellence and Conference of Administrators, Austin, TX.

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

11. Essential Eight: Imagination and Dreams

19

190 Research shows that adults who practiced playing the piano in their imagina‑
tion: “mental practice alone led to the same plastic changes in the motor system as
those occurring with the acquisition of the skill by repeated physical practice. . . . ​Mental practice alone seems to be sufficient to promote the modulation of neuralcircuits involved in the early stages of motor skill learning.” ­Pascual-​­Leone A, Nguyet
D, Cohen LG, et al. 1995. Modulation of muscle responses evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation during the acquisition of new fine motor skills. Journal of
Neurophysiology 74: ­1037–​­45. See also ­Pascual-​­Leone A, Amedi A, Fregni, F, Merabet LB. 2005. The plastic human brain cortex. Annual Review of Neuroscience 28:­377–​­401.
191 George Land tested 1,500 children between the ages of three and five: Land
conducted the study beginning in the late 1960s. It employed repeated administrations of eight tests that had been used by NASA to measure the potential for creative
work by its engineers and scientists. Land G, Jarman, B. 1998. Breakpoint and
Beyond: Mastering the Future Today. Scottsdale, AZ: Leadership 2000.

20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
S30
N31

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 253

22/09/12 11:40 AM

254 / References

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30S
31N

193 all physical activity is organized in the brain by images of the person moving
through space: Alain Berthoz discusses how the development of perception critically depends on movement and the information that movement provides. Decety J,
Jeannerod M, Prablanc C. 1989. The timing of mentally represented actions. Behav‑
ioral Brain Research 34: ­35–​­42. Berthoz A. t2000. The Brain’s Sense of Movement.
Translated by G Weiss. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
194 That three-dimensional movie . . . ​contains information from all of oursenses: A stable internal model of the self is constructed from fragments of information
resulting from multiple sensory ­systems—​­vision, proprioception, hearing, etc. Ramachandran VS, Hirstein W. 1998. The perception of phantom limbs. Brain 121: ­1603–​­30. Dawkins, R. 1996. Climbing Mount Improbable. New York: W. W. Norton.
194 A child who was raised with wolves: In May 1972, a boy aged about four was discovered in the forest of Musafirkhana, about twenty miles from Sultanpur, India. The
boy was playing with wolf cubs. Wallechinsky D, Wallace A, Basen I, Farrow J, eds.
2004. The Book of Lists: The Original Compendium of Curious Information. Toronto:
Knopf Canada.
195 Research shows just the opposite is the case: Researchers observed activity
within the brains of people engaged in tasks that required high levels of mental concentration, then compared those results to brain activity when the people were daydreaming. Mason MF, Norton MI, Van Horn JD, et al. 2007. Wandering minds: The
default network and ­stimulus-​­independent thought. Science 315(5810): ­393–​­95. Jones
H. 2007. Daydreaming improves thinking. Cosmos Online, January 19.
196 Steven Jay Lynn and Judith Rhue, both psychologists, studied six thousand
men and women: Lynn SJ, Rhue JW. 1988.​Fantasy proneness. Hypnosis, developmental antecedents, and psychopathology. American Psychologist 43(1): ­35–​­44.
196 But it’s not only in mental or cognitive functions that Imagination andDreams make a Difference: Crum AJ, Langer EJ. 2007. ­Mind-​­set matters: Exercise
and the placebo effect. Psychological Science 18(2): ­165–​­71.
197 Children begin participating in pretend play, or make believe by their second
year of life: Pretend play is typical between fifteen months and six years of age.
Piaget J. 1951. Play, Dreams and Imitation in Childhood. London: Heinemann. Smith
PK. 2005. Social and pretend play in children. In Pellegrini A, Smith PK, eds. 2005.
The Nature of Play: Great Apes and Humans. New York: Guildford Press.

12. Essential Nine: Awareness209 Philosophers have also referred to this capacity as “meta- consciousness” or“meta-awareness”: ­Meta-​­awareness is a concept that points to the possibility of taking awareness itself as an object of attention. Schooler JW. 2001. Discovering memories in the light of ­meta-​­awareness. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma
4: ­105–​­36. Studies in mind wandering show that it is not the mind wandering per sethat interferes with the ability to process knowledge and information and learning but

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 254

22/09/12 11:40 AM

References / 255
the lack of awareness of the mind wandering. Winkielman P, Schooler JW. 2011. Splitting consciousness: Unconscious, conscious, and metaconscious processes in social
cognition. European Review of Social Psychology 22(1): ­1–​­35.
210 researchers are finding out that infants as young as seven months old demon‑
strate at least some capabilities of awaring: Kovács ÁM, Téglás E, Endress AD.
2010. The social sense: Susceptibly to others’ beliefs in human infants and adults. Sci‑
ence 330(6012): ­1830–​­34. Bryner J. 2010. 7‑­month-​­old babies show awareness of others’ viewpoints. Available at www.​livescience.​com/​10924‑7‑­month-​­babies-​­show-​­awareness-​­viewpoints.​html.
210 Scientists at MIT have shown that twelve-month-old babies can use knowl‑edge to form surprisingly sophisticated expectations of how novel situations
will unfold: If no relevant past experience is available results suggest that infantsreason by mentally simulating possible scenarios and figuring out which outcome ismost likely, based on a few physical principles. Téglás E, Vul E, Girotto V, et al. 2011.
Pure reasoning in 12‑­month-​­old infants as probabilistic inference. Science 332(6033):­1054–​­59.

01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13

13. Beyond Limitations

14

220 “Parents and teachers should look at the child, not the child’s label”: Grandin
T. 2011. The Way I See It. Arlington, TX: Future Horizons.

15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
S30
N31

9780399537363_KidsBeyond_TX_p1-270.indd 255

22/09/12 11:40 AM