Thinking Clearly and Analytically

An international study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that students who had more books at home reported that they enjoyed reading more. Teens who read more paper books scored higher on reading assessments.  

'We are obsessed with the idea that some people are more creative than others. But we're not training creativity in the right way.'

Many par­ents feel guilty when their chil­dren play video games for hours on end. Some even wor­ry it could make their chil­dren less clever. And, indeed, that’s a top­ic sci­en­tists have clashed over for years. In our new study, we inves­ti­gat­ed how video games affect the minds of chil­dren, inter­view­ing and test­ing more than 5,000 chil­dren […]

We’ve seen no small amount of hoopla over the suggestion, first made in the journal Nature in 1993, that listening to Mozart might improve spatial-temporal reasoning abilities. This news set off a series of events that might best be described as a sort of hysteria. What came to be known as the Mozart Effect was…

One of my initial motivations behind developing MindNode was to make it quick and easy to capture new ideas.

Yes, you can play video games during the workday. Here are some great options that won’t sink your productivity.

What makes us laugh, and why does it feel good? Watch this video to learn more about the side-splitting upsides of laughter.

A new book by a renowned brain expert says there are a few simple things we can do to prevent memory decline as we age.

In a Cedars-Sinai study, researchers have discovered two types of brain cells that play a key role in dividing continuous human experience.

We constantly confront dangers and opportunities related to our need to survive and reproduce. Many folks believe that our brain processes all the recognition and response functions that are required for our survival and a qualitative life. It’s a bit more complicated than that. We actually have two separate but functionally related recognition/response systems. Our…

When it comes to recall, it’s very much a case of ‘use it, don’t lose it’. Here’s how you can improve yours, at an

Mental strength is a valuable lifelong skill to learn. Here are 7 effective tips you can do today to sharpen your strength.

This counterintuitive exercise can spark creativity.

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze and effectively break down an issue in order to make a decision or find a solution. At the heart of critical thinking is the ability to formulate deep, different, and effective questions. For effective questioning, start by holding your hypotheses loosely. Be willing to fundamentally reconsider your initial conclusions — and do so without defensiveness. Second, listen more than you talk through active listening. Third, leave your queries open-ended, and avoid yes-or-no questions. Fourth, consider the counterintuitive to avoid falling into groupthink. Fifth, take the time to stew in a problem, rather than making decisions unnecessarily quickly. Last, ask thoughtful, even difficult, follow-ups.

Whether or not we agree philosophically with the concept of a “national language,” English is clearly the dominant language in the United States. As such, knowledge of English is an important component to success in this country. The percent of people in the U.S. from non-English speaking nations is growing, which has fostered the search…