Paul Zak's webinar

The neuroscience of high performing teams

Paul Zak discovered oxytocin which is the "neuro-hormone of trust," Oxytocin is best known for its use in inducing labor. It is also the "social glue" that binds families, communities, and societies, and fosters trust between strangers. Oxytocin is primarily a molecule of social connection. It tells the brain how to engage with others at work, and in every part of our lives.
Oxytocin is inhaled as nasal spray. Oxytocin is an extract from the human posterior pituitary gland. Scientists had realized that oxytocin was also a neurotransmitter that acted on the brain's emotional centre. Oxytocin has been shown to facilitate nurturing behavior in mice and rats: when oxytocin was blocked, mice stopped caring for their young. Zak argues that many of the social and political issues could be solved if only we could find a way of raising people's basal levels of oxytocin. When Zak tested the blood of players who had demonstrated trustworthy behavior, he found that their oxytocin levels had increased.

Learning Styles

Information enters your brain in three main ways: sight, hearing and touch, which one you use the most is called your Learning Style.

Visual Learners learn by sight, prefer to see information such as pictures, diagrams, cartoons, demonstrations, learners benefit from using charts, maps, notes, and flash cards when studying. Such learners are easily distracted in lecture with no visual aids.

Auditory Learners learn by hearing, they prefer to hear information spoken, can absorb a lecture with little effort, and often avoid eye contact in order to concentrate.

 

 

Tactile Learners (kinesthetic) learn by touch, Prefer touch as their primary mode for taking in information, role-playing can help them learn and remember important ideas.

 

 

 

Knowing your learning style, both your strengths and your weaknesses, can help you study more effectively.

Behaviorism vs. cognitive learning theory

According to behaviorism learning is a change in observable behavior that occurs as the result of experience. The goal of instruction is to increase the number of correct answers by using reinforces and punishments. Behaviorism is not able to explain how students learn language, develop critical thinking and problem solving.

Here came an evolution to the cognitive learning theory which states that learning is a change in individual’s mental structure and processes that may or may not result in an immediate change in behavior.

The six basic principles of the cognitive learning theory include:

1.      Learning and development depend on the learners’ experience.

2.      Learning is to make sense of experience.

3.      Understanding depends on what students know.

4.      Understanding is facilitated by social interaction.

5.      Learning requires practice.

6.      Concrete and real life tasks result in optimal learning.