on 25-Dec-2016 (Sun)

This is price bubbles, buyers and sellers base their expectations of future prices: if price rises, they take that as a sign that price will rise even further.

If buyers see an increase today, they shift the demand curve to the right, desiring to buy more today because they think they would pay more in the future.

Sellers at the same time see an increase in today’s price and think that price will be even higher in the future, they don't sell today holding out for higher prices tomorrow, and that would shift the supply curve to the left.

With a rightward shift in demand and a leftward shift in supply, buyers’ and sellers’ expectations about price are confirmed and the process begins again. This scenario could result in a bubble that would inflate until someone decides that such high prices can no longer be sustained. The bubble bursts and price plunges.

The hippocampus is the part of the brain that takes in information and moves it to our memory. When it's damaged, people lose access to past memories and no longer can make new ones.

The hippocampus acts like a recorder or data drive; like those devices, it has an "on" button. Physiologically, it's when our eyes and ears attune to something that causes the hippocampus to begin recording. Richard Davidson, from the University of Wisconsin, calls this "phase locking" and it's the starting point of all learning.

As a result, we must design our learning environments to help people focus and we must bust the myth that you can multitask while learning. Research has proved that when we divide our attention, our focus switches back and forth between the two activities, also known as switch tasking.

The hippocampus loses vital pieces of information for both of the things we were trying to attend to. I call this "Swiss tasking" because we end up with holes in the data the hippocampus was capturing and, therefore, holes in our learning that cannot be recovered.

Here is the big shocker about the hippocampus: It can only hold so much information before it must be processed and pushed into short-term memory. Studies show that the maximum amount is about 20 minutes of information.

Lecture-style sessions never have demonstrated good results for retention, and now we know why—it works against the brain's natural functioning. The good news is that many other learning activities can help.

All the hippocampus needs is a few minutes of processing to push that data into short-term memory and it's ready again for more. I now build all my learning events in chunks of 15 minutes of information followed by a processing activity, such as a dyad discussion, a period of reflection, an experiential activity, or even a break.

I can then string these mini-modules together into a longer session, although I rarely go longer than a half-day because of what I have learned about the brain. Since I have adopted this approach, I have seen a real increase in the effectiveness of learning events in terms of comprehension, retention, and ultimately behavior change.

Learning is not the only activity that benefits from focus. Daniel Goleman's latest book, Focus: The Hidden Ingredient in Excellence, details the positive impact focusing has on leadership, decision making, and creativity.

One of the biggest insights from brain science has to do with how our memories are made. For conceptual learning, the evidence is clear that it's through the act of retrieval—having to recall something we have learned—that makes learning memorable for the long run.

For example, I could teach you about neuroscience today (reading is certainly one of the ways we learn). I can activate your schemas and you might even have an "aha moment." But if you don't have to retrieve that learning again, it eventually will get dumped from your brain.

Retrieval can occur through a variety of methods such as sharing what you learned with someone else, reflecting on how it relates to a past experience, doing an activity with hands-on application, quizzing yourself on your understanding, and a host of other learning activities. As instructional designers, we can easily build retrievals into our learning events and empower our learners to do that for themselves.

This is what distinguishes great presenters from excellent instructors. Great presenters can create a feel-good experience that activates our schemas and that we thoroughly enjoy. And we will give those presenters or programs high ratings for satisfaction and raving reviews. But if no retrieval occurs, that learning will disappear in the following weeks and months. Sure, people will still say that they loved it, but they won't be able to remember much of what they learned, nor will their behavior change as a result.

Research has shown that it is most effective to get to at least three retrievals. Memory studies have shown that three retrievals yield the best accuracy and retention. Although you can go on to more, the benefit seems to be better at three, so I focus on that number of retrievals in my own learning design. You can certainly build three retrievals into one learning event, but retention will be even more powerful if you add sleep to the mix.

when our eyes and ears attune to something that causes the hippocampus to begin recording. Richard Davidson, from the University of Wisconsin, calls this "phase locking" and it's the starting point of all learning.

Here is the big shocker about the hippocampus: It can only hold so much information before it must be processed and pushed into short-term memory. Studies show that the maximum amount is about 20 minutes of information.

All the hippocampus needs is a few minutes of processing to push that data into short-term memory and it's ready again for more. I now build all my learning events in chunks of 15 minutes of information followed by a processing activity, such as a dyad discussion, a period of reflection, an experiential activity, or even a break.

Focus: The Hidden Ingredient in Excellence, details the positive impact focusing has on leadership, decision making, and creativity.

One of the biggest insights from brain science has to do with how our memories are made. For conceptual learning, the evidence is clear that it's through the act of retrieval—having to recall something we have learned—that makes learning memorable for the long run.

For example, I could teach you about neuroscience today. I can activate your schemas and you might even have an "aha moment." But if you don't have to retrieve that learning again, it eventually will get dumped from your brain.

Great presenters can create a feel-good experience that activates our schemas and that we thoroughly enjoy.

Research has shown that it is most effective to get to at least three retrievals.

You can certainly build three retrievals into one learning event, but retention will be even more powerful if you add sleep to the mix.

If you are staring at a question and have been unable to devise a solution after [how long] , you should seriously consider moving on to the next question.

e^x dx = e^x + C

xⁿ dx = x⁽ⁿ⁺¹⁾ / (n+1) + C