Brain Imaging and Education

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Brain Imaging and Education

• John Gabrieli
• Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
  Martinos Imaging Center at the
• McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT

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High-Stakes Statewide Standardized Tests
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment
System MCAS Math ELA
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Cognitive Skills

• Crystallized Skills
• acquired knowledge (vocabulary arithmetic)
• focus of schools state testing
• Fluid Skills
• speed of processing
• working memory
• abstract reasoning

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Processing Speed
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Working Memory

• count span (Conway, Bunting, Hambrick, Wilhelm
  Engle, 2005)
• Your job is to count the BLUE CIRCLES in each
  display.
• Ignore red circles and blue triangles.
• From each of 3 successive displays, remember the
  number of BLUE CIRCLES in each display, and
  report those 3 numbers after the third display.
• For example,
• display 1 1 BLUE CIRCLE (keep 1 in mind)
• display 2 2 BLUE CIRCLES (keep 1 and 2 in
  mind)
• display 3 3 BLUE CIRCLES (keep 1 and 2 and
  3 in mind
• report, 1, 2, 3

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Working Memory
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Working Memory
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Working Memory
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Working Memory

• Answer?

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Working Memory

• Answer?
• 6 7 4

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Fluid Reasoning
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
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Research Study

• 1,367 8th graders
• - 47 male, 77 free-lunch eligible
• - 41 African- American, 36 Hispanic, 12 White
• 32 middle schools
• - traditional, exam, 5 oversubscribed charter
  (of 8)
• MCAS scores (Math ELA), fluid cognitive
  measures

Finn et al., Psychological Science, 2014
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Higher Fluid Skills Are Associated With Higher
MCAS Scores

• Fluid Skill MCAS Math MCAS ELA
• Processing Speed .46 .38
• Working Memory .27 .18
• Fluid Reasoning .53 .40
• all p lt .001

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Higher Fluid Skills Are Associated With Higher
Gains in MCAS Scores

• Fluid Skill MCAS Math MCAS ELA
• Processing Speed .29 .21
• Working Memory .12 .04
• Fluid Reasoning .32 .19
• 4th-8th grade gains
• p lt .001 except Working Memory and MCAS ELA

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MCAS Test Scores
Finn et al., Psychological Science, 2014
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Schools Vary In Raising Test Scores
student growth percentile
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Schools Influence Test Gains, But Not Fluid
Cognitive Skills
Finn et al., Psychological Science, 2014
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From Correlation to CausationRandomized
Controlled Trial (RCT)

• lottery for 5 oversubscribed charter schools
• 143 winners, 53 losers (quasi-experimental
  analysis)

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Schools Influence Test Gains, But Not Fluid
Cognitive Skills
Finn et al., Psychological Science, 2014
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Working Memory, Brain, MCAS

• diverse sample of 53 8th graders
• N-Back test of working memory capacity

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N-Back Performance
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Greater Activation in Prefrontal Parietal
Neocortices with Greater Working Memory Demand
left hemisphere
right hemisphere
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Greater Working Memory Activation Associated With
Higher MCAS Math Test Scores
left hemisphere
right hemisphere
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Cortical Thickness Analysis
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Cortical Thickness Correlates with Standardized
Test Scores
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Schools, Test Scores, Fluid Cognitive Skills

• some schools can raise test scores
• gains in crystallized cognitive skills
• such test scores correlate with future gains on
  SAT, AP, and life outcomes like educational
  attainment income (Angrist et al., 2013
  Ritchie Bates, 2013)
• gains achieved without commensurate gains in
  fluid cognitive skills
• (does that matter?)

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Decline of Fluid Skills and Preservation of
Crystallized Skills across the Life Span
FLUID
CRYSTALLIZED
Park et al., 2002, Psychology and Aging
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College Persistence

• 1,589 12th graders in PA and MA
• 51 male
• 56 free-lunch eligible
• 34 African- American, 13 Hispanic, 31 White

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College Persistence
Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP charter schools
www.kipp.org
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College Persistence
(non-cognitive)
cognitive
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Collaborators Support

• Schools Cognitive Skills
• Amy Finn
• Chris Gabrieli
• Martin West
• Mathew Kraft
• Bill Melinda Gates Foundation