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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Disruptive Studies"
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OH, BEHAVE! THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. IF YOU WERE TO OBSERVE THE BEHAVIOR OF A CLASSROOM OF PRE-SCHOOL KIDS, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO PREDICT EACH CHILD'S FUTURE CAREER SUCCESS? PROBABLY NOT--BUT, ACCORDING TO NEW FINDINGS OUT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, THERE ARE SOME INDICATORS THAT MAY HELP US TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN A STUDENT'S CONDUCT AT EARLY AGES, AND ULTIMATE SUCCESS IN LIFE. THE FIRST STUDY EXAMINED DATA GARNERED OVER TIME FROM NEARLY 36-THOUSAND PRE-SCHOOLERS AND KINDERGARTENERS. IT DETERMINED THAT DISRUPTIVE, SAD, OR WITHDRAWN BEHAVIOR IN THESE YOUNGER STUDENTS DID NOT AFFECT ACADEMIC SUCCESS LATER ON. A SECOND NEW PROJECT LOOKED AT OLDER CHILDREN--AND CONCLUDES THAT IF BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS PERSIST PAST AGE EIGHT, THOSE PROBLEMS CAN BE A STRONG PREDICTOR OF POSSIBLE FUTURE EDUCATIONAL AND CAREER ACHIEVEMENT. THE RESEARCHERS SAY THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO ASSESS THE WAY THAT KIDS ACT AND INTERACT AT EARLY AGES--IF WE ARE TO DEVELOP WAYS TO MAXIMIZE POTENTIAL. IT SEEMS THAT ANTI-SOCIAL KIDS CAN GET CAUGHT UP IN KIND OF A CATCH-22: PUNISHMENT CREATES A HOSTILE LEANING ENVIRONMENT, MORE BAD BEHAVIOR, AND ULTIMATELY LESS SUCCESS IN LIFE. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
