In this ambitious essay –
Demetriou, A., Spanoudis, G., & Mouyi, A. (2011). Educating the developing mind: Towards an
overarching paradigm. Educational
Psychology Review,23(4),
601-663.
the authors present a
wide ranging model of intelligence.
The model
is presented in detail in the first part of the essay. It's implementation and implications for the
educational system are presented in the second part of the essay. In this post I'll present the first part of
the essay. I hope to present the second
part in a future post. The essay was
favorably reviewed by Earl Hunt, one of the leading scholars of
intelligence. I hope to write about his
review in another future post.
The model presents
general intelligence, g, as consisting of four systems that interact during the
performance of every cognitive task:
a.
Specialized structural
systems – SSS.
b.
A representational capacity system.
c.
An inference system.
d.
A consciousness system.
The Specialized
Structural Systems – SSS.
Each SSS deals with
a different domain of interactions with the environment. The authors argue that research indicates
five such systems:
·
Categorical thought system –
deals with relations of similarity and differences. For example: creating hierarchies of
concepts, and relations between concepts.
·
Quantitative thought system.
·
Causal thought system – deals with understanding cause and
effect relations.
·
Spatial thought system – deals with spatial position,
representation of the environment through mental imaging, and mental
manipulations like mental rotation.
·
Social thought system - deals with social relations and social
interactions.
Each SSS consists of
innate core processes (subitizing, perceiving the quantity of small sets of
objects, depth perception, preference for the perception of a human face are
examples of innate processes in the quantitative, spatial and social systems, respectively), mental operations
(classifying and emotional regulation are examples of mental operations in the
categorization and the social systems, respectively), and knowledge and beliefs
(the knowledge and beliefs we gather as a result of the interaction between the
SSSs and the environment). Each SSS
contains its own specific logical processes for problem solving.
In CHC terms, each
SSS includes relevant crystallized knowledge for the content and processes it
deals with, along with fluid ability (specific relevant fluid processes for the
area the SSS deals with).
Demetriou,
Spanoudis & Mouyi present
developmental milestones for each SSS. I
cannot get into that here, but this material is interesting and assists in
finding the developmental stage of the
child we work with in each SSS. This information
can also assist in the development of
tests measuring each SSS.
The representational capacity system.
Our mental
functioning occurs within the limits of our representational capacity
system. The representational capacity is
the maximum quantity of information units, chunks (for example, mental images,
words, numbers), and mental operations (for example mental rotation, executing
grammar rules and arithmetic operations) that we can activate efficiently and
simultaneously. The representational
capacity is our work space. This is the
mental field in which we act with information, analyze it, link it with other
information, change it, interpret it, deduce conclusions from it and create
plans for action and for problem solving with it.
In CHC terms, we are
talking about short term memory. This system
is described in a very similar way to Baddeley's model of short term memory.
Demetriou,
Spanoudis & Mouyi provide information about the development of the
representational capacity system. They suggest
that between age 2 to 11, short term memory capacity develops from a capacity
of one item to four. At age 15-17, the
capacity is 7 items. The capacity
depends on the task's complexity and the required executive processes, and on
the kind of information we work with. Training
and experience help increase working memory capacity (expertise in a specific
field enable us to form chunks containing more information). Another interesting thing the authors write
is that working memory is a system for holding pointers for schemas residing in
long term memory. Pointers in working
memory can activate relevant schemas according to information reaching the
SSSs.
The inference system.
This system deals
with inductive, analogical and deductive reasoning. In CHC terms this is fluid ability. The authors present information about the
development of the inference system.
The consciousness system.
This system deals
with control and monitoring processes that make sure that we are aware of our
goal, compare our present state with the goal state and suggest actions for closing gaps between the present state
and the goal state. The consciousness
system includes self regulation and inhibition.
These are
essentially executive functions.
Not every cognitive
activity reaches consciousness. Consciousness
is needed mainly when there is no automatically available schema for action in
the situation we are at.
The input for the
consciousness system is the information arising from the functioning of all
other systems. The consciousness system
integrates the information from the other systems, and controls cognition and
behavior.
Consciousness is the locus of
subjectivity and the self, since it unites past, present and future into one experiential
stream. Consciousness is the cause of
our actions and the source of our attributions and explanations about the
behavior of others.
Consciousness allows
us to analyze the way we perform tasks and to represent this analysis for
future use.
The consciousness
system links cognition and personality. It
links the self appraisal of cognitive processes we perform and our attitudes
about learning and problem solving (for example, being organized and systematic
or adventurous and
open to experiences). Through consciousness,
personality and emotion influence cognitive functioning. We adopt a certain attitude towards our
performance and our ability and apply this attitude consistently in every task
we perform, and in social interactions. This
attitude is like a "self fulfilling prophecy", since we ascertain that
the way we perform tasks is compatible with this attitude. This attitude influences the choices the
child makes and his stance towards learning.
The authors write
about the development of consciousness. Interestingly,
the ability to apply rules (for example, "if it's red it belongs
here") is seen as a sign of consciousness, since rule application reflects
the ability to plan actions. The authors
suggest, that self consciousness and executive control are parts of the learning
process, and that learning efficiency changes and grows with the development of
self consciousness and executive control.
I find this link
between executive processes and consciousness fascinating.
g depends on the
functioning of each of the four systems (the Specialized structural systems,
the representational capacity system,
the inference system and the consciousness system) and on their interaction in
real time. g depends on the extent to which the SSSs transfer
their contents efficiently and precisely
to the representational capacity system, on the extent to which
executive control (the consciousness system) is precise and flexible until the
goal is attained, on the extent to which the inference process is efficient
when we reach a decision and on the extent to which the new mental
representations we create for future use are precise.
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