Alison Gopnik at TED Edinburgh: What do babies Think?

"Babies and young children are like the R&D division of the human species," says psychologist Alison Gopnik. Her research explores the sophisticated intelligence-gathering and decision-making that babies are really doing when they play.

Alison Gopnik takes us into the fascinating minds of babies and children, and shows us how much we understand before we even realize we do. Full bio »

Sam and Friends: Visual Thinking - YouTube

Fifty-six years ago today, Sam + Friends, the early live-action puppet TV show by Muppets creator Jim Henson and his eventual wife Jane, made its official debut.

Its characters, all of whom Henson voiced himself, presaged not only modern icons like Kermit and The Muppets, but even some of today’s cultural archetypes. (One of Sam’s friends was named Harry the Hipster.)

This vintage kinescope from the show’s early days offers a rare look at the dawn of a cultural icon and explores visual thinking, particularly in music.

For more on the story of Sam + Friends, see Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, as well as Chapter 2 of the altogether fantastic Kermit book, Before You Leap: A Frog’s Eye View of Life’s Greatest Lessons.

Learning Difficulties: The Essay Map - Read, Write, Think

Expository writing is an increasingly important skill for elementary, middle, and high school students to master.

This interactive graphic organiser helps students develop an outline that includes an introductory statement, main ideas they want to discuss or describe, supporting details, and a conclusion that summarises the main ideas.

The tool offers multiple ways to navigate information including a graphic in the upper right-hand corner that allows students to move around the map without having to work in a linear fashion. The finished map can be saved, e-mailed, or printed.

Read more about this Essay Writing Tool here at ReadWriteThink

Autism: Thinking and Understanding in Pictures

Temple Grandin, ("Autism is part of who I am.") was diagnosed with autism as a child. She talks about how her mind works -- sharing her ability to "think in pictures," which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss.

She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids. More info.

Dr. Bruce L. Miller: UCSF Memory and Aging

Mediterranean diet may lower risk of brain damage that causes thinking problems

Mediterranean diet may lower risk of brain damage that causes thinking problems

The study found that people who ate a Mediterranean-like diet were less likely to have brain infarcts, or small areas of dead tissue linked to thinking problems.

The Mediterranean diet includes high intake of vegetables, legumes, fruits, cereals, fish and monounsaturated fatty acids such as olive oil; low intake of saturated fatty acids, dairy products, meat and poultry; and mild to moderate amounts of alcohol.