Module 1: Integrity – Writing + Retention / James & Englehardt

The very act of handwriting appears to have important cognitive benefits. For example, a study of 15 children in Indiana (James & Engelhardt, 2012) who were asked to write, trace, or type letters while having their brains scanned found that writing letters activated more regions of the brain than typing letters—in particular, visual processing centers at the heart of perceiving letters. Because of these and other cognitive benefits of handwriting, occupational therapists Stevenson and Just (2014) concluded that it’s best to hold off on teaching keyboarding to children until ages 10 to 12, after they’ve fully developed the ability to write by hand.

Module 2: Tenacity – Finger Typing Drill

Sugawawra’s research suggests that after trying out a new skill—like cooking, running, or playing the guitar—receiving praise seems to improve the brain’s ability to remember and repeat that skill. For the study, 48 adults were taught a finger-typing drill, striking a particular sequence of keys on a keyboard as fast as possible for 30 seconds. The next day, the participants who had been praised while learning the skill performed significantly better than everyone else.

Module 2: Tenacity – Ventral Striatum Reference

When most people receive a compliment, it triggers the same reward centers in
the brain—the ventral striatum and the ventral medial prefrontal cortex—that light up during sex, explains Christoph Korn, a postdoctoral fellow with the University of Zurich’s Computational Emotion Neuroscience lab.

It’s the former part of your brain that seems to be the most critical: In one study, when people received either praise or money while having their brains scanned by fMRI machines, the ventral striatum—which sits at the base of the forebrain—responded almost identically to both stimuli.

Module 2: Tenacity – Frederick’s “Failure to Thrive” Reference

Young orphans were put in boxes called Skinner boxes. The purpose was to deny these babies all human contact – no touch, no voices, nothing- so they didn’t receive any kind of affection at all. Even when they were fed, it was done with gloves.