Tag

Learning

All articles tagged with #learning

technology3 days ago•3 min saved

AI Helps Homework but Harms Exams, Large Chinese Study Finds

A large Chinese study of ~27,000 students ages 12–18 finds that about 80% used AI tools, with AI homework completion rising by 18% and time per assignment dropping from 64 to 45 minutes (a 30% faster pace). However, monthly exam scores for AI users were 20% lower than non-users, suggesting AI can be a learning crutch rather than a true aid. Anecdotes from Brown University and MIT align with concerns that AI-assisted work may reduce engagement and cognitive activity, while broader research links AI use to poorer critical thinking and memory. Learning losses were greatest in social sciences, followed by STEM and languages, and there are worries about AI-driven grade inflation in humanities and engineering. A cautionary note on how AI may shift performance patterns without necessarily improving understanding.

via Futurism|

#artificial-intelligence #china #education

science13 days ago•6 min saved

Queensland Dolphins Demonstrate Shell-Foraging, Possibly Teaching Calves

Dolphins off the coast of Queensland, Australia, have been filmed using empty seashells to stun and extract fish—a rare foraging method called shelling. New 2025 footage, along with a Marine Mammal Science study, shows an adult female and her calf shelling together, hinting that mothers may teach this technique to offspring and that the behavior could spread within populations. Previously, shelling was only documented in Shark Bay, Western Australia; researchers plan further study to understand learning pathways across popuations.

via ScienceAlert|

#dolphins #foraging #learning

neuroscience16 days ago•9 min saved

Silencing the Brain’s Executive Center Accelerates Creative Strategy Shifts in Mice

In mice, the medial prefrontal cortex—traditionally linked to flexible thinking—can impede problem-solving by enforcing a memory-based win-stay habit. Chemogenetic silencing of the mPFC speeds the shift to a superior sound-guided strategy from 4–8 days in controls to 2–3 days, with the auditory cortex also crucial for cue learning. These findings suggest suppressing executive control can help acquire new, sensory-driven habits and may guide human therapies (e.g., TMS) to modulate prefrontal activity in cognitive disorders.

via Neuroscience News|

#auditory-cortex #learning #mice

philosophy17 days ago•12 min saved

Beginner Mindset: Epictetus on Unlearning What You Think You Know

Epictetus argues that you cannot learn something you already think you know, warning that certainty can block real understanding. The piece links this to the Dunning-Kruger effect and to a Yale study showing how internet searching can inflate perceived knowledge by conflating accessible information with personal knowledge. It advocates a practical, beginner’s approach: explain the concept aloud or in writing without looking up the answer, and maintain curiosity to keep the door open to genuine learning, treating certainty as a cue to reassess rather than a badge of mastery.

via Space Daily|

#curiosity #dunning-kruger #epictetus

neuroscience26 days ago•117 min saved

Mice Seek Knowledge: Orbitofrontal Cortex Encodes Intrinsic Information Value

In a mouse information-seeking task, researchers show mice value information for its own sake, even sacrificing water reward to learn outcomes. Calcium imaging of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) reveals distinct neural representations for odors predicting information versus odors predicting reward, and a nonlinear latent-variable model (CEBRA) shows these representations occupy separate neural subspaces that emerge with learning, implying distinct circuits for intrinsic information value and extrinsic reward value in OFC.

via nature.com|

#calcium-imaging #information-value #learning

science27 days ago•5 min saved

Training Rewires the Brain for Real Multitasking

A small study suggests extensive practice can reroute cognitive tasks from the prefrontal cortex to the temporal cortex, reducing the frontal bottleneck and enabling closer to true multitasking. Using fMRI/EEG, participants trained to sort cars showed shifted brain activity after weeks of trials, with broader implications for learning, medicine, and AI.

via ScienceAlert|

#brain #learning #multitasking

science1 month ago•5 min saved

Pigeons Defy Learning Law by Embracing Variable Behavior

A study with pigeons shows rewarded behaviors remain variable rather than converging on a fixed pattern, challenging the traditional law of effect and suggesting that staying variable—at the edge of chaos—may help animals cope with changing environments, with implications for understanding how brains learn.

via Scientific American|

#edge-of-chaos #law-of-effect #learning

science1 month ago•5 min saved

Practice Rewires the Brain, Unlocking True Multitasking

Georgetown researchers report that extensive practice can relocate a learned task from the prefrontal cortex to the temporal cortex, offloading mental effort and enabling true multitasking, with implications for education, medical training, and AI systems.

via SciTechDaily|

#fmri #learning #multitasking

science2 months ago•4 min saved

Mosquitoes May Seek Out DEET After Learning, Study Finds

A lab study suggests mosquitoes can learn to associate DEET with a blood meal, with about 60% of trained insects attempting to bite a DEET-presented hand later, though DEET remains effective in normal outdoor conditions and the duration of this memory is not yet known.

via New York Post|

#deet #learning #memory

science2 months ago•3 min saved

Mosquitoes may be drawn to DEET after a feeding experience, study finds

A laboratory study shows mosquitoes can form a learned association between the repellent DEET and a blood meal, with about 60% of trained mosquitoes attempting to bite DEET when later exposed to it. This suggests repellents can be less effective under certain conditions, though experts stress normal use remains valid and travelers should continue reapplying as directed; more research is needed to understand how long such memories last and how this translates outside the lab.

via The Guardian|

#deet #learning #mosquitoes

science3 months ago•7 min saved

Learning Begins at a Single Brain Synapse in Songbirds

Researchers pinpoint a specific cortico-basal ganglia synapse in zebra finches as the initial site where learning begins, using optogenetics and AI-driven song scoring to show that early learning hinges on this single connection. Manipulating activity at these synapses speeds learning but can reduce accuracy, highlighting a balance between exploratory babbling and precise Mastery with implications for human speech and movement disorders.

via Neuroscience News|

#basal-ganglia #learning #neuroscience

technology3 months ago•5 min saved

LinkedIn Reshapes Product Ops as It Cuts Jobs and Leans Into AI

LinkedIn is laying off staff and scaling back investments while reorganizing its product operations to move faster with AI. The changes include centralizing user experience design, creating a shared UX resource model, shifting learning content to instructor-driven monetization, and closing the Graz, Austria office, with Microsoft-like emphasis on leaner teams and fewer management layers.

via Business Insider|

#ai #layoffs #learning

science4 months ago•7 min saved

Caffeine sharpens invasive ants, offering new pest-control options

A new study finds caffeine-influenced Argentine ants learn faster and take straighter routes to sugar rewards, reducing foraging time by up to 38% at intermediate caffeine doses without increasing speed. This could enhance bait effectiveness for pest control, but field tests and safety assessments are still needed.

via ScienceDaily|

#ants #caffeine #invasive-species

lighter-side4 months ago•270 min saved

Confidence Gone Wrong: 61 Moments of Bold Mistakes

A collection of 61 moments where people spoke with unwavering certainty and were completely wrong, highlighting how overconfidence can outpace knowledge. The piece references psychology research showing our brains overestimate what we know, and that exposure to opposing viewpoints can erode initial certainty, underscoring the value of humility and curiosity.

via AOL.com|

#cringe #humility #learning

science4 months ago•2 min saved

Field Observations Hint Tarantulas Use Learning and Memory in Hunting

Field observations of nine hunting cases in arboreal and fossorial tarantulas across the Americas suggest these spiders can learn and remember, adapting their hunting by using spatial information. Arboreal species moved up to two meters to better-lit hunting spots, fossorial tarantulas climbed to the canopy—even in the dry season—and several spiders, including a blind cave-dwelling species, returned quickly and directly to their burrows after disturbance. While the findings point to learning and memory, it remains unclear whether external landmarks or internal cues guide navigation, and researchers call for further field work and controlled experiments to confirm the cognitive interpretation.

via BBC Wildlife Magazine|

#arachnids #learning #memory