Mind Reading was developed by a team of scientists at Cambridge University led by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen. They combed the English language and found more than 1000 words that described human emotions. From this large number they eventually settled, after much testing, on 412 “emotion concepts” that they found to be distinct. This project was made possible by funding from The Shirley Foundation. It has taken 18 months to produce
The DVD consists of three areas: the Emotions Library, The Learning Center and the Games Zone. The Emotions Library is a visual dictionary of emotions; the Learning Center includes lessons and quizzes to consolidate learning and The Games Zone is a non-competitive fun way to practice the learning.
Mind Reading was trialled with people from 4 years upwards, and is suitable for an age range from 4 years old through to adult. There are six levels to choose from enabling each person to begin at their own level. Three different helpers are available to suit different tastes and ages.
Although there are 412 emotions, not all emotions are included at every level. In addition, when using the “child helper”, an automatic filter operates excluding words of an inappropriate nature. You can also impose your own filters using “Mind Reading Manager” - details of this are in the User Guide. Altogether over 1000 emotions are mentioned on the DVD (many as “similar emotions” in the definitions of the 412 core concepts).
In the Learning Center it is possible to build your own lessons, enabling you to concentrate on emotions you are interested in. Additionally there is a note-making facility where you can detail your triumphs and obstacles, or your own stories that illustrate the emotions studied. Finally there is a scrapbook. Here you can “paste in” images and voices from the DVD to form your own personalized collection.
It won't get boring because the quizzes are randomly generated within the confines of the level chosen, so it isn’t possible to learn the answers by heart. Because there are six levels and 412 emotions, there is plenty of room for progress. In addition, we have devised a set of collectible rewards including birds, butterflies, trains and musical instruments that provides an incentive to study emotions and to complete lessons successfully.
System Requirements and Installation Information
This is an incredibly extensive program, requiring a newer computer - it requires a DVD-ROM drive or 2.5 gigabytes available on your hard drive to run it directly on your computer.
If you are intending to install Mind Reading on one computer, a Single-user License is all you need. If you plan on installing Mind Reading on more than one computer, up to 10 computers are covered in the Multi-user License. For 11-20 you would be required to purchase 2 Multi-user Licenses, etc. Note that Mind Reading is not intended for use over a network – you need to do a full install on each machine.
Two formats are available - 1 single DVD-ROM or a 4 computer CD-ROM set. . Your choice depends on the machine you have. To use the DVD-ROM you need a DVD-ROM drive on your computer. If you do not have a DVD-ROM drive, you can purchase the CD-ROM set. This consists of 4 CDs that have to be installed onto the hard drive.
