吴本虎学友之园：综合认知能力发展探究

综合认知能力发展探究（7）：将语言运用整合于思维、感知和记忆

Exploring the Developing Integrated Cognitive Competence (综合认知能力发展探究)

Session 7 (第7讲)

Integrate language use with thinking, perception and memory (将语言运用整合于思维、感知和记忆)

Readings

Pecher, Diane and Rolf A. Zwaan. 2005. Grounding Cognition: The Role of Perception and Action in Memory, Language, and Thinking. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Weiten, Wayne. 2007. Psychology: Themes and Variations. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Q01 What is the relationship between our mind and our body? Or what is the relationship between our perception and our remembering, thinking and language use?

Pecher and Zwaan (2005: 1)

Fifty years of research in cognitive science have demonstrated that the study of cognition is essential for a scientific understanding of human behavior. A growing number of researchers in the field are proposing that mental processes such as remembering, thinking, and understanding language are based on the physical interactions that people have with their environment. Rather than viewing the body as a support system for a mind that needs to be fueled and transported, they view the mind as a support system that facilitates the functioning of the body. By shifting the basis for mental behavior toward the body, these researchers assume that mental processes are supported by the same processes that are used for physical interactions, that is, for perception and action. Cognitive structures develop from perception and action.

Wu Benhu

People traditionally believe that the body supports the mind. That is to say, our perception supports our remembering, thinking and language use.

Now, some researchers assume that the mind supports the body. That is to say, our remembering, thinking and language use support our perception.

This is a big change in cognitive science.

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Question: What is the significance of this changing view?

Q02 What does ‘the computer metaphor’ mean?

Pecher and Zwaan (2005: 1)

To fully understand why this idea is so exciting, we need to look at the history of cognitive science. One of the major ideas propelling the cognitive revolution was the computer metaphor, in which cognitive processes are likened to software computations (Turing, 1950). Just like software can run on different hardware systems, so can cognitive processes run independently from the hardware in which they happened to be implemented, the human brain and body. Furthermore, just as computer programs, the human mind was thought to manipulate abstract symbols in a rule-based manner. These symbols were abstract because they were not derived from interactions with the environment by way of sensory organs and effectors.

Wu Benhu

The computer metaphor highlights the interactive nature between perception and remembering, thinking and language use.

Q03 How can language support perception in a problem-solving task?

(Weiten 2007: 315-316)

Chapter 8 Language and Thought (语言与思维)

Changing the Representation of the Problem

Whether you solve a problem often hinges on how you envision it—your representation of the problem. Many problems can be represented in a variety of ways, such as verbally, mathematically, or spatially. You might represent a problem with a list, a table, an equation, a graph, a matrix of facts or numbers, a hierarchical tree diagram, or a sequential flowchart (Halpern, 2003). There isn’t one ideal way to represent problems. However, when researchers compare experts and novices in a particular area of problem solving, they find that the experts strip away irrelevant details and represent problems much more efficiently (Pretz, Naples, & Sternberg, 2003). This finding highlights the importance of how problems are represented. Thus, when you fail to make progress on a problem with your initial representation, changing your representation is often a good strategy (Novick & Bassok, 2005). As an illustration, see whether you can solve the bird and train problem (from Bransford & Stein, 1993, p. 11):

Two train stations are 50 miles apart. At 1 P.M. on Sunday a train pulls out from each of the stations and the trains start toward each other. Just as the trains pull out from the stations, a hawk flies into the air in front of the first train and flies ahead to the front of the second train. When the hawk reaches the second train, it turns around and flies toward the first train. The hawk continues in this way until the trains meet. Assume that both trains travel at the speed of 25 miles per hour and the hawk flies at a constant speed of 100 miles per hour. How many miles will the hawk have flown when the trains meet?

This problem asks about the distance the bird will fly, so people tend to represent the problem spatially, as shown in Figure 8.16. Represented this way, the problem can be solved, but the steps are tedious and difficult. But consider another angle. The problem asks how far the bird will fly in the time it takes the trains to meet. Since we know how fast the bird flies, all we really need to know is how much time it takes for the trains to meet. Changing the representation of the problem from a question of distance to a question of time makes for an easier solution, as follows: The train stations are 50 miles apart. Since the trains are traveling toward each other at the same speed, they will meet midway and each will have traveled 25 miles. The trains are moving at 25 miles per hour. Hence, the time it takes them to meet 25 miles from each station is 1 hour. Since the bird flies at 100 miles per hour, it will fly 100 miles in the hour it takes the trains to meet.

Wu Benhu

What can we learn from this example in problem solving?

We can see that perception, memory, thinking, and language use are related to each other. We may find the following points:

1)     Language may support perception. It may also mislead perception. So our language should be accurate and our perception should be flexible.

2)     Language may support thinking. It may interfere with thinking. We need to use language in different ways to help our thinking. We need to think in different ways to overcome the limitations caused by language.

3)     Perception may stimulate thinking. It may lead thinking to a dead end. So it is important for us to try different ways of perception if our thinking is in a dead end.

Course Work for Session 7

Combine your reading, perceiving, thinking and writing in a problem-solving task.

Try to solve one of the problems presented in ‘Problem Solving: In Search of Solutions’ (Weiten 2007: 310-318 download from: http://ishare.iask.sina.com.cn/f/21991618.html) and present both the problem you selected and the solution you found. You may use both English and Chinese to complete this course work.

This course work is required to be presented by 14:00, 31 March 2012.

Preparation for the final report.

Select parts from your course works, try to improve them and put the improved parts in a new file.

posted on 2012-03-22 23:36 吴本虎 阅读(995) 评论(1)  编辑  收藏 所属分类: 综合认知能力发展探究2012春