Garth Sundem, Author at GeekDad

Calculating the Real Cost of Van Life vs. Hotels for a Summer Roadtrip

July 12, 2016March 22, 2020Garth Sundem6

By the time your rent a van and pay for gas and campgrounds, would you be better off just driving your car and paying for hotels? Here’s the bottom line.

Calculate the Likelihood of Surviving Your Child’s Last Few Weeks of School

May 20, 2016December 14, 2017Garth Sundem1

The last few weeks of school are an opportunity for your child to wring every last drop of education from the remaining precious minutes of instruction. And then you wake up.

The Causes of Math Anxiety… And What to Do About It

May 14, 2016Garth Sundem0

Math anxiety and along with it math performance come down to adjusting the sliders on a giant mathematical mixing board: push the right sliders up and down, and even students who have felt helpless may have a chance to succeed.

Are Creativity and Psychosis Paired in Your Child’s Genes?

May 4, 2016Garth Sundem0

Study in ‘Nature’ shows that creativity and psychosis may have the same genetic roots.

Rewarding Your Child’s Sharing Leads to… Less Sharing

April 26, 2016Garth Sundem1

A study in the journal Child Development shows that our intuition about positive reinforcement can be exactly wrong: Rewarding a child’s sharing resulted in the child choosing to share less.

Insight vs. Analysis: A Problem-Solving Throwdown

March 8, 2016Garth Sundem0

Insight doesn’t always tell you you’re looking at a llama’s nostrils. But when it does, it’s probably right.

Should You Confront or Let Go of Unfairness?

March 2, 2016Garth Sundem2

Unfairness trickles down from one person to others. A new study in the journal Scientific Reports shows how to stop the flow.

One Reason Your Child Should Pity Narcissistic Classmates

February 23, 2016Garth Sundem0

Who is besties with a narcissist? Research on best friend pairs shows that narcissists may be stuck with themselves.

Why Math and Reading Skills Usually (But Don’t Always) Go Hand-In-Hand

February 2, 2016April 10, 2020Garth Sundem0

In elementary school the kids in the “redbird” and “bluebird” reading groups tended to be grouped together for math too. Why is that? Why do math and reading ability go hand-in-hand? And why do some kids break this mold to excel in only one?

Study Shows Immigration Benefits STEM Fields

January 26, 2016Garth Sundem0

Does immigration create a rich melting pot or lead to tension? In STEM fields that require complex problem solving, birthplace diversity increases productivity.

Does a Child’s Creativity Come From Persistence or Flexibility?

January 20, 2016June 13, 2020Garth Sundem0

When the going gets tough, should the tough get going or should the tough try something new?

A Lifelong Geek's Experience With Sports Tiger Parenting

January 12, 2016Garth Sundem0

On his fourth attempt, Leif stood in a position of relative rest halfway through the climb and you could see the panic starting to set in as he looked at the next hold, still impossibly far away…

Paper: It’s Time to Take Santa Workplace Safety Seriously

December 22, 2015Garth Sundem0

As a society, we systematically fail to take into account issues of workplace safety that affect or have the potential to affect Santa Claus and his ungulate co-workers every Christmas Eve. A commentary by University of Alberta medical researcher Sebastian Straube hopes to change that.

Does Religion Protect Against Holiday Blues?

December 8, 2015Garth Sundem0

Study finds that “the Christmas period is related to a decrease in life satisfaction and emotional well-being.” But not among the very religious…

Data Mining May Make You Less Troll-Like (In-Game and Out)

December 3, 2015Garth Sundem0

By compiling millions and millions of League of Legends data points, researchers hint at “psychological traits across global populations.”

Study Shows That Kids Don’t Have To Like Math To Be Good At It

November 17, 2015December 14, 2017Garth Sundem2

“The present findings could mean that interventions in education that try to increase intrinsic motivation may not be the best approach in the early school years.” Care to discuss?

MIT Study of Tsimané People Shows How to Trick Kids Into Giving You Cookies

November 11, 2015December 14, 2017Garth Sundem0

How does a child’s sense of fairness develop? A fascinating MIT study shows fairness depends on number sense and not necessarily age or socialization.

Dad Brain. Old Brain. Are You Doomed to Cognitive Decline?

November 4, 2015April 10, 2020Garth Sundem0

After testing the knowledge of older and younger brains, you give them the right answers and a chance to make changes. Here’s what happens.

Science Finally Proves Superiority of Geek Brain

October 27, 2015April 10, 2020Garth Sundem0

Studies show that “cultural dysfluency” — Halloween plates on Labor Day, a purple wedding tux, a “good riddance” obituary — jolts brains from complacency and makes people perform better on cognitive tests. This, my friends, is why the geek brain thinks while the mainstream brain coasts.

‘Bedtime Math’ Helps Families Share Math the Same Way We Share Reading

October 13, 2015December 14, 2017Garth Sundem0

Let’s bond over math the same way we bond over reading–a study in ‘Science’ shows that over the course of a school year ‘Bedtime Math’ pushes kids’ math skills 3 months further than a similar reading app.

Do Your Child’s Friends Help/Hurt Math Skills?

October 6, 2015December 14, 2017Garth Sundem0

If children followed the rules of real estate, you would expect the poorer mathematician in a friendship to benefit at the better mathematician’s expense. Study says…?

Hedonism, Eudaemonia, and the Secret of Happiness

September 29, 2015Garth Sundem0

Might happiness be more than simply feeling good without feeling bad (and maybe the lingering afterglow of smugness)?

Study Shows Why Kids Sink or Swim in Math Education

September 23, 2015December 14, 2017Garth Sundem0

Most kids who are good or bad at math in first grade are similarly good or bad at math as 15-year-olds. Most but not all. A few get better or worse and a new study shows what’s behind the migration of math ability.

Anger, Sadness, Stereotype, and How to Argue With Your Kids

September 15, 2015Garth Sundem1

Imagine you’re driving through a crowded grocery store parking lot when a man on a cell phone walks out in front of you and holds up a hand toward you, palm out. What does he mean by this gesture? Studies show that your interpretation depends on your mood.

Don’t Delay Exploring the Science of Your Child’s Procrastination

September 2, 2015Garth Sundem3

Research is showing that procrastination isn’t a defect in ability or personality but rather a disconnect between the demands of a task and what motivates the procrastinator.

One Scientific Way to Help Your Child Deal With Stress

August 26, 2015Garth Sundem1

How to help your kids stay in the Goldilocks zone of productive stress even when life makes the porridge too hot.

Insight, Energy, Crickets, And the Science of the Snooze Button

August 18, 2015Garth Sundem0

Are the offsprings’ brains better off setting the alarm for 6:00am and hitting snooze for a blissful half an hour, or setting the alarm for 6:34am and sledding to breakfast on a piece of greased cardboard? The answer has to do with crickets… and brain waves… and insight.

Studies Show Hufflepuff Key to Creativity

August 4, 2015Garth Sundem0

Creativity isn’t the lucky gift it seems. “This research demonstrates that persistence is a critical determinant of creative performance and that people may undervalue and underutilize persistence in everyday creative problem solving,” write authors Brain Lucas and Loran Nordgren from Northwestern University.

The Science of Becoming a Math Person

July 28, 2015December 14, 2017Garth Sundem9

What caught my ear wasn’t the fact that a young, hipsterish guy struggled with subtraction Captchas; it was the fact that he excused it, saying, “Hey, I’m not a numbers person…”

A.I. Research Mines 'Minecraft' to Mimic Human Learning

July 21, 2015Garth Sundem0

“The whole of ‘Minecraft’ is what we refer to as ‘A.I. complete.’ If you can do all of ‘Minecraft’ you could solve anything,” says Brown University researcher.