How Emotions Influence Learning

1. Reinforcing Positive Emotional Habits

1.1. Motivation

1.2. Curiosity

1.3. Encouragement

1.4. Growth

1.5. Foster intellect and power

1.6. Specialty

2. Emotional Signals

2.1. 1. Fight or flight

2.2. 2. Past reactions

2.2.1. EXAMPLE: Fear - which tells us to run and escape.

3. Development of Emotions

3.1. 1. Infants display basic emotions:

3.1.1. fear

3.1.2. anger

3.1.3. sadness

3.1.4. affection

3.1.5. joy

3.2. 2. Develop a broader range of emotions:

3.2.1. negative emotions

3.2.2. basic/universal emotions

3.2.3. subordinate/differentiated emotions

3.3. "Children only gradually learn how to apply labels for subordinate emotions as they come to discriminate relevant features of social success versus failure, of accidental versus intentional actions, and of moral responsibility." (Bower, pp. 8)

4. Sources

4.1. 1. The Handbook of Emotion and Memory

4.2. 2. How Emotions Affect Learning, Behaviors, and Relationships

4.3. 3. The Role of Emotions in Learning

5. Different Parts of the Brain

5.1. 1. Left hemisphere: provides logic, sequence, time, and language.

5.2. 2. Right hemisphere: spatial organization, certain kinds of intuition, and math.

5.3. 3. Southern hemisphere: contains the mechanism for arousal.

6. Neuroplasticity

6.1. The brain’s capacity to rewire, strengthening pathways between neurons that are exercised and used while weakening connections between cellular pathways that are not used or retrieved.

6.2. The brain sees and responds to perception, not reality.