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Perceptual Learning of Reading?

Charles Lim, Director of the Institute of Perceptual Learning, an Austrilia start-up, is promoting "Perceptual Reading":

Reading is the most cost effective way of learning. Independent reading means independent learning. Reading enables a child, from a very young age, to learn from the stories and life experiences of others.

Perceptual Reading™ introduces the children to the wonderful world of reading by exposing them to the text representation of spoken words that they are familiar with. Over an 18-month period they are exposed to and thus given the experience with text that will be invaluable to their reading career. By the end of the program your child will be able to confidently read children's books on his or her own. He/she will be able to sound out unfamiliar words.

His idea of "Perceptual Learning" sounds like this.

Perceptual learning in humans occurs when a person is repeatedly exposed to specific stimuli (information). Perceptual learning involves long lasting and amazing changes to the human perceptual system that incredibly improve one’s ability to respond to the environment. The mechanisms of perceptual learning include attention weighting, imprinting, differentiation, and unitization. With attention weighting, perception becomes adapted to tasks by increasing the attention paid to important dimensions and features. With imprinting, special receptors are developed that are specialized for specific stimuli. With differentiation, stimuli that were once indistinguishable become psychologically separated. With unitization, tasks that originally required detection of several components are accomplished by detecting a single construct. Because dramatic changes to human perceptual systems occur within the first six years of life (and the younger the more dramatic), your child’s training in perceptual learning in reading and maths must occur during this period in order to achieve effortless learning for success and happiness in school and life
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Whole Stimulus Imprinting

As more instances of maths and reading materials are stored, performance improves because more relevant instances can be retrieved, and the time required for retrieving them decreases. Your child’s performance in perceptual tasks is dependent on the amount of their experience with a particular stimulus. Performance is better on frequently presented items than rare items. Perceptual Maths™ and Perceptual Reading™ expose relevant materials that improve their performance in maths and reading. As your child gets older they will be better able to perceptually identify unclear or quickly presented maths and reading materials because they will have already been exposed to them during a period of perceptual plasticity.

Claims about Brain-based Education are rarely materialized, and if they do, they often have little to do with the brain part of the hype. What matters is what you do to the child and what the child does. And I can't see how Mr. Lim could fulfull his guarantees.

posted by Gary Feng @ 9:29 PM