ART VIEWING AND BRAIN POWER IN CHILDREN/ADOLESCENTS
The following research paper presents a review of the literature guided by the research question: Does viewing art enhance brain power in young children/adolescents? Relevant topics presented include: introduction with theoretical orientation, brain-based research, application of brain-based research to the classroom, linking brain research to art, and conclusions.
Introduction with Theoretical Orientation
Results of biologically and psychologically based research in the functioning of the brain indicate that the processes of learning vary from many traditional understandings of the learning process (Caine & Caine, 1997). For example, Rettig and Rettig (1999) reported on findings linking brain research to art and stated that one theory used to explain this link is that the emotions, which may be triggered by art viewing, emerge from the brainstem and the thinking brain grows from the emotional brain. Sylwester (1994) further explains that there are more neural fibers that reach from the brain's emotional center into the rational centers than there are in reverse. The emotions therefore affect our thinking, learning, and behaviors. It is theorized that the emotional reaction of art viewing may explain this increased learning.
Aspects of the brain's anatomy and physiology have been investigated with regard to their relevance to learning. The arborization of cortical neurons, the cerebral glucose metabolism, evoked potentials, nerve conduction velocity, sex hormones, are examples of biological approaches to intelligence. Brain imaging has been used to advance this research (Neisser, Boodoo, Bouchard, Boykin, Brody, Ceci, Halpern, Loehlin, Perloff, Sternberg, & Urbina, 1996). Weiss (2000) reported on areas of the brain that have been researched. The thalamus, found in the brain center, is important for attention; it is the relay center between the senses and the cort...