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[ROBERT ORNSTEIN ON TEACHING STORIES]

Robert Ornstein To Speak at Library of Congress on Afghan "Teaching-Stories"

and the Brain Leading psychologist says little-known literary form develops

thinking skills. A form of literature little-known in the West but common in

Afghanistan can help develop thinking skills and perceptions, says

neuropsychiatric expert Robert Ornstein.

The internationally renowned psychologist, pioneering researcher and author

of more than 20 books -including "The Psychology of Consciousness," "The

Roots of the Self" and "The Amazing Brain" - will discuss this form of

literature, called the "teaching-story," at the Library of Congress Friday,

Nov. 1 2002, 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the Mumford Room, sixth floor, Madison

Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E. in Washington, D.C.

While Western educators and psychologists are just now beginning to

acknowledge the effectiveness of this type of story in developing thinking

skills and perceptions, it is still largely unknown here, though it has been
used for such purposes elsewhere in the world for centuries, says Ornstein.

Although found in many cultures, it is especially prevalent in Afghanistan,

Central Asia and the Middle East, he notes.

On the surface, says Ornstein, teaching-stories often appear to be little

more than fairy or folk tales. But they are designed to embody-in their

characters, plots and imagery-patterns and relationships that nurture a part

of the mind that is unreachable in more direct ways, thus increasing our

understanding and breadth of vision, in addition to fostering our ability to

think critically.

"These are stories with improbable events that lead the reader's mind into

new and unexplored venues, allow her or him to develop more flexibility and

to understand this complex world better," he says.

Ornstein, who has taught at Stanford, Harvard and the University of

California, San Francisco, says psychologists have found that reading

teaching-stories activates the right side of the brain much more than does

reading normal prose.

"The right side of the brain provides 'context', the essential function of

putting together the different components of experience," he says. "The left

side provides the 'text', or the pieces themselves."

Ornstein sees stories as being part of our basic cognitive development,

leading the child and then the adult to learn more about what happens in the

world, when and how events come together. He points out that the stories of

all cultures share more in this regard than they differ, and that an analysis

of stories throughout the world shows that the same story occurs time and

again in different cultures.

"Stories have been part of all cultures from time immemorial," says Ornstein,

"but only recently has their psychological significance been discovered,

especially in teaching-stories."

Source

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