Jump to content

User:GHC: Difference between revisions

591 bytes added ,  20 April 2020
no edit summary
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 27: Line 27:
Another keyword in these scientists lang is 'spreading activation'. Where suppositions about brain mechanics are made, which of course, follow from experiment. A conceptual node that represents a memory object is taken to exist in a large network of other nodes. These nodes are activated upon receiving strong input signals. Once activated, the node can in its turn activate other nodes by spreading energy via its associations to its sibling nodes. If this energy reaches a nodes response threshold then the node fires away as well, causing further spreading activation. Activation is thought to accumulate, so even if a node doesn't fire per se it can still add, or summate, to other nodes and further propagate the activation. This node firing is important because scientists think that this is what brings attention to the node itself, or rather, how memory cascades into the conscious. The theory posed in the previous paragraphs can now be understood from the perspective of this spreading activation in a network of nodes. Retrieval cues and context reinstatement will aid memory recall because these involve firing close-enough nodes to the actual memory that eventually the target memory is bound to fire as well.
Another keyword in these scientists lang is 'spreading activation'. Where suppositions about brain mechanics are made, which of course, follow from experiment. A conceptual node that represents a memory object is taken to exist in a large network of other nodes. These nodes are activated upon receiving strong input signals. Once activated, the node can in its turn activate other nodes by spreading energy via its associations to its sibling nodes. If this energy reaches a nodes response threshold then the node fires away as well, causing further spreading activation. Activation is thought to accumulate, so even if a node doesn't fire per se it can still add, or summate, to other nodes and further propagate the activation. This node firing is important because scientists think that this is what brings attention to the node itself, or rather, how memory cascades into the conscious. The theory posed in the previous paragraphs can now be understood from the perspective of this spreading activation in a network of nodes. Retrieval cues and context reinstatement will aid memory recall because these involve firing close-enough nodes to the actual memory that eventually the target memory is bound to fire as well.


Another cool trick that a cognitive scientist could tell you about is semantic priming (and other sorts of priming). This technique involves priming yourself or reading cues before a task (i.e. exam), which will result in a faster response or recall during said task. This priming can be semantic - like the piano example, where you think of semantically related or similar-in-context themes to the thing you're trying to recall. It can also be repetition priming, where you read and re-read a sentence eventually creating priming links between words, one causing activation of the other, thus conducing memorization.  
Semantics are also important, specially for priming. This technique involves priming yourself or reading cues before a task (i.e. exam), which will result in a faster response or recall during said task. This priming can be semantic - like the piano example, where you think of semantically related or similar-in-context themes to the thing you're trying to recall. It can also be repetition priming, where you read and re-read a sentence eventually creating priming links between words, one causing activation of the other, thus conducing memorization.  


There is an inconvenient truth that is an outcome of the memory system that we humans are running (which is basically intuitionistic and not rationalistic at all - with the causality chain being hardcoded in the form of mechanical bumps of energy and chemicals - in other words, there is no thinking machine inside the thinking machine) involving some brain parts like the temporal lobes, the amygdala, the hippocampus and the rhinal cortex among others. Implicits memories and the 'Illusion of truth' are one inconvenient fact. We tend to remember things by context and not by detail. So spreading activation often induces us in error or close-enough situations especially when it comes to remembering facts, similar objects or grainy details like numbers, equations or names. These are often bundled up together anyway so it's easy to get them confused. One possible solution would be to associate them with very different things. Personally I've heard of very good math professors (including Judea Pearl who once spoke about his favourite math teacher in his childhood who influenced him greatly) who taught their material chronologically alongside the story of their inventors and historical context of the invention. This seemed to have the wanted effect - now the numbers and equations are not just numbers and equations but their solidified and differentiated by the aid of their individual history.
There is an inconvenient truth that is an outcome of the memory system that we humans are running: Implicit memories and the 'Illusion of truth'. Because our memory systems is intuitionistic and not rationalistic at all - with the causality chain being hardcoded in the form of mechanical bumps of energy and chemicals (in other words, there is no thinking machine inside the thinking machine) - there are numerous problems or flaws in the system involving some brain parts like the temporal lobes, the amygdala, the hippocampus and the rhinal cortex among others. We tend to remember things by context and not by detail. So spreading activation often induces us in error or close-enough situations especially when it comes to remembering facts, similar objects or grainy details like numbers, equations or names. These are often bundled up together anyway so it's easy to get them confused. One possible solution would be to associate them with very different things. Personally I've heard of very good math professors (including Judea Pearl who once spoke about his favourite math teacher in his childhood who influenced him greatly) who taught their material chronologically alongside the story of their inventors and historical context of the invention. This seemed to have the wanted effect - now the numbers and equations are not just numbers and equations but their solidified and differentiated by the aid of their individual history.
 
The portal could fument memory amnd learning by developing apps which are based on two things we know about memory: people will remember information better if they keep refreshing their memory by trying to recall it. Secondly, when trying to remember many different concepts, this works best if refreshing occurs at the right moment: Things that are solidified do not have to be refreshed again, and things that are not need more refreshing. You save time by refreshing the right thing at the right time. In research on memory, these two principles are referred to as "retrieval-based practice" and "spaced practice".


== ON PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES ==
== ON PROBLEM SOLVING TECHNIQUES ==
474
474
Anonymous user