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
View online at AVOD
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: 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
View online at AVOD
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
View online at AVOD
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
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
View online at AVOD
Summary: Whether it's English, Spanish, Chinese, or Urdu, babies and young children are able to pick up their native language with remarkable ease; no one language seems any more difficult than any other. Yet few children who are taught a language in school have anything to show for it when they grow up. Why is learning a second or third language so difficult? Are the teaching methods at fault? Enough...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program describes and demonstrates specific examples of instructional conversation and other types of cognitive coaching; identifies instructional arrangements that are used to promote active learning by students; models questioning techniques and student interactions, including the ways in which cognitive coaches keep student discussion focused and productive; and considers the role that...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program explores the development of language during the first six years of life. While language development begins at birth with the sound of the human voice, caregivers need to provide the building blocks so that children can learn language skills during these first six years.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: In her youth, Barbara Arrowsmith struggled with a severe learning dysfunction-until she designed a self-improvement regimen aimed at strengthening areas of her brain. This film profiles Arrowsmith, takes viewers inside the school she founded, and follows the progress of four cognitively challenged students enrolled there. Psychology and special education experts articulate diverging opinions of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: Social context, intonation, and body language add a vital layer of meaning to the spoken or signed word-a layer that can manifest only in conversation. In this program, Dr. Jonathan Miller addresses the subject of group talk, offering his observations on topics including the concept of "speech acts" a la Austin, Wittgenstein, and Searle; the implicit mechanics of verbal give-and-take; and the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Eager for knowledge, a child is by nature curious about everything. Why, then, is school such an unpleasant place for some children? In this program, teachers, researchers, a psychoanalyst, a neurologist, a neurobiologist, a psychomotor specialist, and others examine the process of learning and the classroom as a learning center. Mastery of reading and writing-the key to unlocking all forms of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: One of the great success stories from the world of autism, Temple Grandin revolutionized the field of livestock management, empowered by her sensitivity with animals. Tommy McHugh displayed no such sensitivity-until a brain hemorrhage transformed him from a brawler into a gentle soul. As scientists continue to investigate differences between the male and female brain, the special...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: How could a child be a top math student yet not be able to read? Why can another child read well but not be able to write a paragraph that makes sense? While watching children being taught new ways to learn, this program offers expert insight into the nature of learning disabilities, why learning disabilities may also be accompanied by ADHD or social disorders, and what can be done to help...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Why do girls demonstrate greater reading and writing ability than boys? Is the female brain hardwired for faster verbal development? Should men let women do the talking? This program studies language differences between the sexes and explores the possibility that many communication skills are gender-specific. Following two teams of well-educated adults as they undergo a crash course in...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006