I recently stumbled upon the article "Music Lessons Increase IQ" written by my former UofT professor Dr. Glenn Schellenberg and published at "Psychological Science". His research studies show that 3 years of weekly music lessons resulted in 6-7% increase in IQ in 9 year olds. This research findings highlight the importance of music for developing child's brain. Music is a fundamental part ...
Mindfulness is a concept which has, in recent decades, received quite a lot of attention both from mental health professionals and within the media. Mindfulness is generally defined as a process wherein an individual learns to pay focused, mindful attention to his or her internal and external experiences, and so becomes more aware of the present moment. He or she ...
Dyslexia is an old name for a subtype of learning disability related to difficulties in acquisition of reading. While dyslexia is relatively well-known, it is not well understood, largely because educators have yet to agree on what dyslexia truly is. While some experts are convinced it is a simple matter of being unable to accurately process the sounds of letters (...
If you've ever been so overwrought with worry that your patience fell short, or snapped at someone else because something unnerved you unexpectedly, you've experienced the intrinsic connection that exists between fear and anger. Just as fear can, when it is chronic, in effect bully the person experiencing it—constantly telling him what he can and cannot do—it can ...
Autism has been in the spotlight for many years. In movies, television, and novels, autistic characters are portrayed to have ...
Sometimes classroom behavior problems signal giftedness. Brad and Karen were at their wits end. Their grade school children once again ...
As a psychologist living and working in Toronto, where 51% of residents were born outside Canada, I deal with immigration related ...
With the best of intentions, many parents get into the habit of repressing what they are feeling - bottling up their annoyance and frustration in an attempt to indulge their children's needs, energy, and enthusiasm, or to handle their bad behaviour with grace. While this practice seems noble at first (we all want to set a good example, after all), ...
While most parents are aware of how important play is for the developing brains of their children, many have a difficult time getting into it themselves, failing to feel enriched by the experience beyond the enjoyment of seeing their children happy. They view it in the light of a duty, even if it's one that many do willingly for the ...
Parents today are inundated with alarmist headlines alerting them to the myriad supposed dangers of modern life; everything from plastic baby bottles to radiation from cell phones to the preservatives in our food are purported to be cause for concern. In this fearful social climate, it's often difficult to determine what truly poses a risk and which issues have been ...
It is a shocking paradox that despite all our advances in knowledge and scientific progress, our life in the 21st century is as unsafe as ever. Just a week ago, the humanity was suddenly shaken up by the terrible news of a terrorist attack that claimed the lives of more than a hundred innocent people gathered in Paris for music ...
