Uploaded May 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
There's a lot of myths about learning and the brain on the internet. I tackle five in this video, and try to give you better ways to think about how our brains work to help us learn.
Join my online learning community: benjaminkeep.com/community
00:00 Introduction
00:31 Different parts of the brain do different things
03:11 Sleep is important for learning
05:03 Brain activity and learning
06:33 Why some people learn more than others
09:54 Learning modality influences learning, but how?
11:54 Patterns to myths and what to watch out for
Good learning styles videos:
Veritasium - Biggest Myth in Education youtube.com/watch?v=rhgwIhB58PA
Neurotransmissions - Are learning styles real? youtube.com/watch?v=DSXkfPYOIds
Me - Why do we still believe in learning styles? youtu.be/Z5DmyVYQ9Oc (uh... slightly less good than the others...)
Footage sources:
The two-perspective drawing example comes from Art Academy: youtube.com/watch?v=eW5KPZio_bY
Maybe one day I'll actually learn how to draw.
The visual math proof comes from mathocube: youtube.com/watch?v=9YpnoRkr4oQ
Check them out! I'm a big fan! The "sum of N-odd numbers" problem was also one of the first math proofs I can remember working on. Thanks, Mrs. McLaughlin!
The "bike on a line" example comes from Veritasium's video on how we don't know how we ride a bike. It's a good one.
youtube.com/watch?v=9cNmUNHSBac
The insane powerpoint presentation made the rounds 10 years ago or so. Wired explains: wired.com/2010/09/revealed-pentagons-craziest-powerpoint-slide-ever
The "sleep stages" animation is based on an image found here: Diekelmann, S., & Born, J. (2010). The memory function of sleep. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11(2), 114-126.
References:
On the prevalence of these brain-based myths generally:
Dekker, S., Lee, N. C., Howard-Jones, P., & Jolles, J. (2012). Neuromyths in education: Prevalence and predictors of misconceptions among teachers. Frontiers in psychology, 429. frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00429
Right-brain left brain
Allen, K. N., & van der Zwan, R. (2019). The myth of left-vs right-brain learning. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 5(1), 189-200. https://researchmgt.monash.edu/ws/portalfiles/portal/290074940/290074903_oa.pdf
Myth of right-brain left-brain learning; also, good material generally on "brain-based" nonsense. Point out that where language processing occurs depends on handedness and there's some natural variation (most the left-brain is predominant, but some is bilateral).
Binder, J. R. (2015). The Wernicke area: Modern evidence and a reinterpretation. Neurology, 85(24), 2170-2175. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4691684
I didn't mention Wernicke's area in the video, but just as an example of how brain processes are distributed across the brain (and how recent research further emphasizes that the brain is not compartmentalized into a simple "Part A does thing Z" and "Part B does thing Y" system).
Cone of Experience/Learning
Subramony, D. P., Molenda, M., Betrus, A. K., & Thalheimer, W. (2014). The mythical retention chart and the corruption of Dale's cone of experience. Educational Technology, 6-16. jstor.org/stable/44430317
A pretty comprehensive discussion of the "corrupted cone" (Dale's Cone of Experience + retention claims). They say a LOT more than I had time to in the video.
This is a short summary of Dale's Cone of Experience and where it came from if you can't access the article above: peoplematters.in/article/training-development/the-myth-of-the-dales-cone-of-learning-17104
Learning Styles
There's many articles to cite here, but here are three good ones
Riener, C., & Willingham, D. (2010). The myth of learning styles. Change: The magazine of higher learning, 42(5), 32-35. http://sites.psu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/10091/2012/03/Reiner-and-Willingham_2010.pdf. A very readable piece.
Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological science in the public interest, 9(3), 105-119. researchgate.net/profile/Robert-Bjork-2/publication/233600402_Learning_Styles_Concepts_and_Evidence/links/5a0a0928a6fdcc2736dea17b/Learning-Styles-Concepts-and-Evidence.pdf. This is one of the classics.
Willingham, D. T., Hughes, E. M., & Dobolyi, D. G. (2015). The scientific status of learning styles theories. Teaching of Psychology, 42(3), 266-271. https://career.ucsf.edu/sites/g/files/tkssra2771/f/Article%20UCSF%20SEJC%20January%202017.pdf.
There's a lot of myths about learning and the brain on the internet. I tackle five in this video, and try to give you better ways to think about how our brains work to help us learn.
Join my online learning community: benjaminkeep.com/community
00:00 Introduction
00:31 Different parts of the brain do different things
03:11 Sleep is important for learning
05:03 Brain activity and learning
06:33 Why some people learn more than others
09:54 Learning modality influences learning, but how?
11:54 Patterns to myths and what to watch out for
Good learning styles videos:
Veritasium - Biggest Myth in Education youtube.com/watch?v=rhgwIhB58PA
Neurotransmissions - Are learning styles real? youtube.com/watch?v=DSXkfPYOIds
Me - Why do we still believe in learning styles? youtu.be/Z5DmyVYQ9Oc (uh... slightly less good than the others...)
Footage sources:
The two-perspective drawing example comes from Art Academy: youtube.com/watch?v=eW5KPZio_bY
Maybe one day I'll actually learn how to draw.
The visual math proof comes from mathocube: youtube.com/watch?v=9YpnoRkr4oQ
Check them out! I'm a big fan! The "sum of N-odd numbers" problem was also one of the first math proofs I can remember working on. Thanks, Mrs. McLaughlin!
The "bike on a line" example comes from Veritasium's video on how we don't know how we ride a bike. It's a good one.
youtube.com/watch?v=9cNmUNHSBac
The insane powerpoint presentation made the rounds 10 years ago or so. Wired explains: wired.com/2010/09/revealed-pentagons-craziest-powerpoint-slide-ever
The "sleep stages" animation is based on an image found here: Diekelmann, S., & Born, J. (2010). The memory function of sleep. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11(2), 114-126.
References:
On the prevalence of these brain-based myths generally:
Dekker, S., Lee, N. C., Howard-Jones, P., & Jolles, J. (2012). Neuromyths in education: Prevalence and predictors of misconceptions among teachers. Frontiers in psychology, 429. frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00429
Right-brain left brain
Allen, K. N., & van der Zwan, R. (2019). The myth of left-vs right-brain learning. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 5(1), 189-200. https://researchmgt.monash.edu/ws/portalfiles/portal/290074940/290074903_oa.pdf
Myth of right-brain left-brain learning; also, good material generally on "brain-based" nonsense. Point out that where language processing occurs depends on handedness and there's some natural variation (most the left-brain is predominant, but some is bilateral).
Binder, J. R. (2015). The Wernicke area: Modern evidence and a reinterpretation. Neurology, 85(24), 2170-2175. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4691684
I didn't mention Wernicke's area in the video, but just as an example of how brain processes are distributed across the brain (and how recent research further emphasizes that the brain is not compartmentalized into a simple "Part A does thing Z" and "Part B does thing Y" system).
Cone of Experience/Learning
Subramony, D. P., Molenda, M., Betrus, A. K., & Thalheimer, W. (2014). The mythical retention chart and the corruption of Dale's cone of experience. Educational Technology, 6-16. jstor.org/stable/44430317
A pretty comprehensive discussion of the "corrupted cone" (Dale's Cone of Experience + retention claims). They say a LOT more than I had time to in the video.
This is a short summary of Dale's Cone of Experience and where it came from if you can't access the article above: peoplematters.in/article/training-development/the-myth-of-the-dales-cone-of-learning-17104
Learning Styles
There's many articles to cite here, but here are three good ones
Riener, C., & Willingham, D. (2010). The myth of learning styles. Change: The magazine of higher learning, 42(5), 32-35. http://sites.psu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/10091/2012/03/Reiner-and-Willingham_2010.pdf. A very readable piece.
Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2008). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence. Psychological science in the public interest, 9(3), 105-119. researchgate.net/profile/Robert-Bjork-2/publication/233600402_Learning_Styles_Concepts_and_Evidence/links/5a0a0928a6fdcc2736dea17b/Learning-Styles-Concepts-and-Evidence.pdf. This is one of the classics.
Willingham, D. T., Hughes, E. M., & Dobolyi, D. G. (2015). The scientific status of learning styles theories. Teaching of Psychology, 42(3), 266-271. https://career.ucsf.edu/sites/g/files/tkssra2771/f/Article%20UCSF%20SEJC%20January%202017.pdf.
