Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself? How the Brain’s Amygdala Can Impede the Learning Process Joshua R. Eyler George Mason University

Discussion Question: How did the Black Death of influence the work of late medieval English authors such as William Langland and Geoffrey Chaucer?

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The Amygdala **Images are generated by Life Science Databases(LSDB). [CC-BY-SA-2.1-jp ( via Wikimedia Commons

The Amygdala and Fear Fear Results. Amygdala Interprets Stimulus as Threatening. Stimulus Occurs.

Disengaging the Amygdala  The Production of Oxytocin (See Aggleton, et al.).  The Idea of “Felt Safety” (Purvis, Cross, and Sunshine, 2007).  Happy Faces.  Cognitive Activity (Zull, 2002).

Evidence of Amygdala Activity in the Classroom  Students Who Are Visibly Aggressive, Angry, Scared, etc.  Cases of Test Anxiety.  More Subtle Difficulties with the Material.

In Which He Finally Arrives at His Argument: Because changes and stimuli in any kind of environment (classrooms included) pass through the amygdala first, it can perceive course material that is difficult or challenging or strange as a threat, which will then cause it to respond in varying degrees. We might not see outright evidence of fear, but there will be other signs that we may have traditionally misinterpreted as a lack of comprehension or some other kind of cognitive struggle.

Classroom Strategies to Modulate the Effect of the Amygdala  Begin with Students’ Prior Knowledge (“Felt Safety”).  Use Empathy, Humor, or a Combination of Both.  Design Meaningful Assignments and Activities Engaging Their Cognitive Skills.  Others?

It all comes back to Chaucer…

Works Cited and Consulted Aggleton, J.P. (Ed.). (2000). The amygdala: A functional analysis (2 nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Purvis, K.B., Cross, D.R., & Sunshine, W.L. (2007). The connected child. New York: McGraw-Hill. Zull, J.E. (2002). The art of changing the brain. Sterling, VA: Stylus. Zull, J.E. (2011). From brain to mind: Using neuroscience to guide change in education. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Contact Information: Josh Eyler Associate Director, Center for Teaching Excellence George Mason University