Summary: The question of animal intelligence has been debated for centuries. In recent years, science has come closer to proving that animals think and feel-perhaps not at the level of humans, but in ways that are nevertheless authentic. This classic program brings viewers into the midst of eye-opening zoological, neurological, and psychological research, revealing what many scientists believe to be...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
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Summary: In this program, Dr. Jonathan Miller investigates both the predictable and the unexpected effects of damage to Broca's and Wernicke's areas on patients' abilities to communicate verbally and through sign language. In his efforts to expose the physiological roots of language expression, Dr. Miller traces the evolution of brain research, from the scientific blind alley of phrenology to the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Starting right from infancy, this program charts the development of language during childhood. Basic language acquisition, learned from rudimentary and higher-level child/caregiver interactions, is described. Aspects of competence that go beyond the purpose of simple communication are also considered, including the skill of using conversation for establishing and furthering social...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: There was a time when parents were expected to teach their children social skills, such as how to listen, share, and be kind. Today, that job, and the nurturing of the emotional intelligence necessary to learn those skills, has been turned over to schools. This program from The Doctor Is In looks at innovative teaching techniques that are helping students to develop emotional intelligence and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Based on Daniel Goleman's best-selling book, this classic program spotlights Dr. Goleman as he argues that strong interpersonal skills, not just IQ, shape a person's prospects. According to the acclaimed clinical psychologist's research, people who are emotionally intelligent tend to have more success as parents and partners as well as in their chosen field of employment because they have...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1999
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Summary: Are the results of scientific experiments affected by the desired outcome of the researcher conducting the trials? In this TEDTalk, psychologist Dan Ariely tells two personal stories that explore a subtle and perhaps subconscious bias that can lead to a scientific conflict of interest. "The most difficult thing," Ariely says, "is to recognize that sometimes we, too, are blinded by our own...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
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Summary: Extremely gifted children are the envy of many parents-but no childhood, least of all that of the young prodigy, is without stress and frustration. This program visits several such children in the midst of lightning-quick development and progress toward puberty. Peter, at 11, is a chess champion. Adam, now eight and a half, is heading off to a prestigious boarding school, while math wonder...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Mute until the age of nine, Stephen Wiltshire learned to communicate through realistic, richly detailed drawings. Alonzo Clemens sculpts clay animal figures with great precision, even though he can barely form a sentence. Matt Savage faced extraordinary developmental problems as a child but has become a teen prodigy among jazz musicians. What is the relationship between creativity and autistic...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Anna has built a successful business from the ground up-and upon retirement, leaves the company to her employees, not to her son. What does that decision tell us about Anna's psychology, and about the development of the human brain over a lifetime? This program explores the emotional and neurological side of learning, explaining how the brain processes and stores experiences and prepares for...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: How do multiple intelligences and different thinking styles relate to traditional IQ scores? What role should teacher creativity and the family play in shaping student intelligence? In this interview by Phillip Harris, of Phi Delta Kappa, Robert Sternberg-IBM Professor of Psychology and Education at Yale University-answers questions about the IQ-based "single trait notion of intelligence"; the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: From prenatal Mozart to hothousing, the debate surrounding intelligence and how it is best cultivated is a controversial one. But is there really an optimal window of opportunity for neural development? This program invites John T. Bruer, author of The Myth of the First Three Years; Colin Blakemore, of Oxford University; UCLA's Paul Thompson; Bill Greenough, of the University of Illinois; and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Neuro-imaging has greatly improved our understanding of speech development. This video shows how the early detection and treatment of speech problems could potentially help a generation of children.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: The emphasis in this program is on the development of language in babies and young children. The program follows this development from the first cry of an infant in the delivery room through that of a seven-year-old, when language development is almost complete. The program features babies and children attempting to communicate, from crying and babbling to making grammatical errors to speaking...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Approximately 70,000 years ago, humankind began talking, and hasn't stopped since. In this fascinating program, a diverse group of experts-an evolutionary linguist, a neurologist, a geneticist, a neuropsychologist, a developmental cognitive neuroscientist, and an Oxford professor of communication-discuss the birth, development, and transmission of the mysterious phenomenon called language....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: I want my diaper changed. "I want to go to sleep." These are two of many examples of what a pre-verbal child can communicate through American Sign Language. Using the work of researcher Joseph Garcia, founder of the business Sign with Your Baby, as a platform, this program illustrates the benefits and positive implications of introducing ASL to children regardless of whether their hearing is...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: A child prodigy usually displays high intelligence very early in life. But what makes such a child exceptional? Is it simply his or her IQ, or are other, less definable factors involved? This program enters the lives of several child prodigies, documenting their early growth and development as well as their family lives. Three-year-old Mikhail is the youngest-ever member of Mensa, able to...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: In this program, Paul Hoffman, editor of Discover magazine, explores the controversial issue of language use by apes with primatologist Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh and Dr. Laura Ann Petitto. The results of Savage-Rumbaugh's 20-year study with chimpanzees reveal that they can use language with the astounding accuracy of a two-year-old human, which includes a rudimentary syntactical ability. However,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: One in 25 people are dyslexic, but the teenagers involved in making this program would say that 24 out of 25 people miss out on dyslexia. This program approaches dyslexia from a new angle, exploring how the so-called disability might prove an advantage in an increasingly image-based world. Educational experts from America and England discuss aptitudes of dyslexics, while video diaries show how...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: IQ used to be the standard by which all were judged. Today, EQ allows for a broader understanding that encompasses attributes such as logical, linguistic, musical, kinetic, and emotional intelligences. This program provides an in-depth analysis of intelligence, including how it is defined and its neural components. Leading experts such as Harvard's Howard Gardner; Daniel Goleman, author of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Often viewed as a weakness, dyslexia actually means that a person processes information differently, and many with the disorder have learned to see it as a strength. This program illustrates the challenges faced by Amanda, Carmen, and Gio-three young people living with dyslexia-through personal interviews with them and those close to them. Viewers are guided into their unique and often...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Reudiger Gamm performs complex arithmetic instantly and without help-his brain stores numbers like a calculator. Orlando Sorrel remembers exactly what he was doing on any date, at any hour, and can accurately predict the day of the week thousands of years in the future. Kim Peek-the original "Rain Man"-has read 12,000 books and hasn't forgotten a single word. What lies behind these astonishing...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Communication is at the core of the human experience, even though effective communication takes a lifetime to learn. This program explores how we develop the arts of speech and physical expression to make ourselves understood and to understand others. Visiting a group of 25 three-year-olds, the film observes them learning as many as ten new words a day-some already grasping the first 1,500...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Can modern genetics, psychology, and neuroscience actually identify the qualities that make up human creativity and brilliance? This program follows innovative research which may help determine what makes a person a genius-if such a label even makes sense. Dr. Manuel Casanova of the University of Louisville has detected differences in brain structure that may account for extreme intelligence....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: The pressures of high-flying scholarship mixed with churning hormones can prove overwhelming to young geniuses. This program catches up with several child prodigies as they become teenagers, examining the forces, both positive and negative, shaping their development. Aimee's star is rising, including a win at a high-profile music competition, but her relationship with her parents is undergoing...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009