Daniel T.

Willingham

Daniel T. Willingham (born 1961) is a

psychologist at the University of Virginia,
where he is a professor in the Department
of Psychology. Willingham's research
focuses on the application of findings
from cognitive psychology and
neuroscience to K–12 education.
 Daniel T. Willingham

Born 1961 (age 61–62)

Nationality American

Alma mater Harvard University

(PhD), Duke University
(BA)

Scientific career

Fields Cognitive psychology

Institutions University of Virginia

Thesis Memory Systems and

Mechanisms of Motor
Skill Learning (https://i
d.lib.harvard.edu/alm
a/990023893480203
941/catalog)  (1990)
Doctoral advisors William Kaye Estes
Stephen Kosslyn

Website www
.danielwillingham
.com (http://www.dani
elwillingham.com/)

Willingham earned his BA from Duke

University and his PhD under William Kaye
Estes and Stephen Kosslyn in cognitive
psychology from Harvard University.
During the 1990s and into the early 2000s,
his research focused on the brain
mechanisms supporting learning, the
question of whether different forms of
memory are independent of one another
and how these hypothetical systems might
interact.

Since 2002, Willingham has written the

"Ask the Cognitive Scientist" column (htt
p://www.aft.org/newspubs/periodicals/a
e/authors5.cfm) for the American
Educator published by the American
Federation of Teachers. In 2009, he
published Why Don't Students Like School,
which received positive coverage in The
Wall Street Journal[1] and The Washington
Post.[2]

Willingham is known as a proponent of the

use of scientific knowledge in classroom
teaching and in education policy. He has
sharply criticized learning styles theories
as unsupported[3] and has cautioned
against the empty application of
neuroscience in education.[4] He has
advocated for teaching students
scientifically proven study habits,[5][6] and
for a greater focus on the importance of
knowledge in driving reading
comprehension.[7]

In his book "Why Don't Students Like

School?" he provides nine fundamental
principles that can help teachers
understand how students' minds work and
improve their approach to teaching. He
suggests that it is more useful to view the
human species as bad at thinking, rather
than cognitively gifted. He argues that the
brain is not primarily designed for thinking
through decisions; rather, it's designed to
save you from having to do that. Because
thinking is slow, effortful, and uncertain,
we rely on memory for the vast majority of
decisions we make. While memory is not
always reliable, on balance it is much more
effective than having to stop and think
about every step of every decision you
need to make (for example, when driving a
car). He also suggests that, even though
our brains are not very good at thinking,
we actually like to think. While humans are
naturally curious, the conditions have to be
just right for curiosity to take hold (not too
easy, not too hard). This idea is similar to
Vygotsky's zone of proximal development
(for example, a joke is funnier when you
understand it without needing it to be
explained). He suggests that this is
because of the dopamine released by the
brain's natural reward system whenever we
solve a problem.

Books
Cognition: The Thinking Animal (4
editions: 2001, 2004, 2007, 2019:
Prentice Hall, Cambridge University
Press)
Current Directions in Cognitive Science
(Ed., with Barbara Spellman: 2005:
Prentice Hall)
Why Don't Students Like School?: A
Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions
About How the Mind Works and What It
Means for the Classroom (2 editions
2009, 2020: Jossey-Bass)
When Can You Trust the Experts?: How to
Tell Good Science from Bad in Education
(2012: Jossey-Bass)
Raising Kids Who Read: What Parents
and Teachers Can Do (2015: Jossey-
Bass)
 The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach
to Understanding How the Mind Reads
(2017: Jossey-Bass)
Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is
Hard and How You Can Make It Easy
(2023: Gallery Books)

Articles
Students Remember. . . What They Think
About. American Educator, Summer
2003. (http://www.aft.org/newspubs/pe
riodicals/ae/summer2003/willingham.cf
m)
Reframing the Mind. Education Next,
Summer 2004. (http://educationnext.or
g/reframing-the-mind/)
The Myth of Learning Styles. Change,
September–October 2010. (http://www.
changemag.org/Archives/Back%20Issu
es/September-October%202010/the-myt
h-of-learning-full.html)
Critical Thinking: Why Is It So Hard to
Teach? American Educator, Summer
2007. (http://www.readingrockets.org/ar
ticle/21409/)
How educational theories can use
neuroscientific data. Mind, Brain, and
Education, 1, 140–149. (With John
Lloyd) (http://www.danielwillingham.co
m/uploads/5/0/0/7/5007325/willingha
m__lloyd_2007.pdf)
21st century skills: The challenges
ahead. Educational Leadership, #67, 16–
21. (With Andrew Rotherham) (http://ww
w.ascd.org/publications/educational-lea
dership/sept09/vol67/num01/21st-Cent
ury-Skills@-The-Challenges-Ahead.asp
x)
Unlocking the Science of How Kids
Think. EducationNext, Summer 2018. (ht
tps://www.educationnext.org/unlocking-
science-how-kids-think-new-proposal-for
-reforming-teacher-education/)
References
1. Chabris, Chris (April 27, 2009). "How to
Wake Up Slumbering Minds" (https://www.
wsj.com/articles/SB12407900106375751
5) . The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved
2012-07-16.

2. Matthews, Jay (April 11, 2008). "The

Thinking Behind Critical Thinking Courses"
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/
content/article/2008/08/11/AR200808110
0425.html) . The Washington Post.
Retrieved 2012-07-16.

3. Neighmond, Patti (August 29, 2011). "Think

You're An Auditory or Visual Learner?
Scientists Say It's Unlikely" (https://www.np
r.org/blogs/health/2011/08/29/13997374
 3/think-youre-an-auditory-or-visual-learner-s
cientists-say-its-unlikely) . National Public
Radio. Retrieved 2012-07-16.

4. Higgins, John (July 11, 2012). "Teachers

Learn Ways to Keep Students' Attention, But
Are Brain Claims Valid?" (http://www.ohio.c
om/news/local-news/teachers-learn-ways-t
o-keep-students-attention-but-are-brain-clai
ms-valid-1.319731) . Akron Beacon.
Retrieved 2012-07-16.

5. Carey, Benedict (May 12, 2011). "Less Talk,

More Action: Improving Science Learning"
(https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/sci
ence/13teach.html) . The New York Times.
Retrieved 2012-07-16.

6. Belluck, Pam (January 20, 2011). "To Really

Learn, Stop Studying and Take a Test" (http
 s://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/scienc
e/21memory.html) . The New York Times.
Retrieved 2012-07-16.

7. Hirsch, E.D.; Pondiscio, R. (June 13, 2010).

"There's No Such Thing as a Reading Test"
(http://prospect.org/article/theres-no-such-
thing-reading-test/) . The American
Prospect.

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