ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2011) — Put down those science books and work at recalling information from memory. That's the shorthand take away message of new research from Purdue University that says practicing memory retrieval boosts science learning far better than elaborate study methods. "Our view is that learning is not about studying or getting knowledge 'in memory,'" said Purdue psychology professor Jeffrey Karpicke, the lead investigator for the study that appears January 20 in the journal Science. "Learning is about retrieving.

Johan Karremans couldn’t remember his own address when an attractive lady asked him at the end of a conversation. This Dutch psychologist had been so busy trying to impress her that his cognitive abilities were temporary exhausted. He decided to investigate this more closely and discovered man can’t think optimally after a conversation with a woman. The prettier the woman, the stronger the effect. With women this effect did not appear.

(Future Lab) Aimed at teachers and those interested in using games with an educational intent, this handbook aims to provide some useful anchoring points for educators to make sense of the area and to develop practical approaches to the use of computer games as a medium for learning.