Amy Alkon's Humanlab: The Science Between Us

Amy Alkon's Advice Goddess Radio: "Nerd Your Way To A Better Life!" with the best brains in science. ***("Best Of" Replay this week, because I am completing the final polish on my upcoming book. New LIVE show Jan. 19 and onward!)Psychology professor Dr. Gabrielle Principe notes that the panic-stricken parental race to raise tiny geniuses is actually bad parenting -- leading to overcontrolled childhoods that have negative effects on kids' development.This way of raising children is marketing-driven, not science-driven (though marketers typically claim their toys and learning tools are based in science).Take Baby Einstein videos. In 2007, UCLA's Department of Health Services chairman Frederick Zimmerman and his colleagues found that kids watching these had a 17 percent decrease in vocabulary acquisition for each hour they spent watching them per day.Through looking at solid science on the human brain, Dr. Principe has figured out ways for parents to naturalize childhood again, so a child's environment gels with