ATTENTION

MEANING:

Attention is no mental faculty but an active part of consciousness. The activity of concentrating mind on a matter is called attention. Attention is not possible in the absence of consciousness, but attention and consciousness are not one. The field of consciousness is vast and attention is one of its parts. For example, I am reading at this time. Book, note, table, chair, etc., all this can be under my consciousness, but my attention is on the words being read on the paper.

DEFINITION:

Attention is the concentration of consciousness upon one object rather than others – Dumvile.
Attention is the process of getting an object of thought clearly before the mind – Ross.
Attention is merely conation or striving considered from the point of view of its effect on cognitive process – Mc Dougall.
Attention is being keenly alive to some specific factor in our environment. It is a preparatory adjustment for response – Morgan and Gilliland.
Attention can be thought of as the bridge over which some parts of the external world the aspects selectively focused on are brought into the subjective world of our consciousness so that we may regulate our own behaviour – Carver and Schuler.

NATURE:

Attention is focusing of consciousness on a particular object.
Attention is constantly shifting/changeable
Attention is selective
Attention is a mental process
Attention is a state of preparedness or alertness
Attention has narrow range/span

TYPES OF ATTENTION:

According to J.S.Ross, the following classification of attention may be presented.

Non-volitional Attention: It is also called involuntary attention. It is aroused by our instinct and also by our sentiments. This type of attention aroused without the play of will or the individual does not have to make efforts in order to focus his attention on a particular object or event. For example, the mother’s attention towards her child. It is also of two types.

Enforced Attention: Due to striking qualities of the stimulus an individual is forced to attend or concentrate his attention on it. This attention is sustained by instincts.
Spontaneous Attention: It occurs without efforts and is sustained by some internal motivation and sentiments. This attention is sustained by sentiments.

Volitional Attention: It is also called voluntary attention. In which the individual has to make efforts, the person has to exercise his interest and will power in order to focus attention. It is least automatic and spontaneous and not given whole heartedly like volitional attention. It is also of two types.

Implicit Attention: It is that in which individual has to make only ordinary efforts, he does not have to take pains. Here a single act of volition is sufficient to bring about attention.
Explicit Attention: here the individual has to make efforts for a number of times. He has to make efforts to attend to the object or event else attention shifts. Here we need repeated acts of will to sustain attention.

FACTORS RELATED TO ATTENTION:

Attention depends upon several factors. These factors may be of two types – external and internal.

External Factors: The external factors are concerned with the environment. These are also called objective factors.

Size: Size has effect on attention. It is natural an unusual size attracts attention of the people. Very big size or very small size too draws our attention when compare with normal size. For example, a Lilliputian (dwarf man) walking on the road too draws our attention.
Intensity: Loud sounds, strong smells and deep colours are attractive in nature. If a sound is intense then it would attract our attention. The thunder is louder than a car sound. So, our attention is drawn on thunder.
Repetition: If a thing or person or event is repeated several times, then our attention drawn to it. When an advertisement is repeated in the walls drawn our attention.
Duration: attention is drawn to a thing that lasts longer. A salesperson draws attention by lengthening his voice.
Movement: Moving things draws our attention more than stationary one. A moving car attracts faster than a stationary car.
Contrast: Anything that is different from its surrounding is contrast. A black dust in the milk drawn attention quickly. A swan among the crows attracts suddenly.
Change: Change draws our attention easily. In the midst of continuous noise a slight moment of silence draws our attention.
Novelty: Newness attracts quickly than traditional one. A new teacher attracts the children very much in the school.

Internal Factors: The internal factors are concerned with the individual. So, these are also called subjective factors.

Interest: we are interested in some things and disinterested in other things. Interesting things draws our attention soon. An engineer and a botanist going down the same path will attend entirely different things on the way. Engineer attention will be on the buildings and botanist attention will be on the trees.
Desire: A person’s desire becomes a cause of paying attention to a thing. For example, a person has to desire of buying a hammer. There are many things available in a market, but when he goes to a shop where hammers are available.
Motives: Basic motives are important in drawing attention. Human motives like hungry, thirst, sex, safety, etc., play a vital role in drawing attention. A thirst person attention always on where water is available.
Aim / Goal: Every man has some immediate aim and ultimate goal in their life. The immediate aim of a student is to pass in the examination while his ultimate goal may be to become a doctor. The student, whose goal is not to pass the examination, will not be concerned with textbooks or note, etc, but who has the aim to pass in the examination, will at once attend to them.
Habit: Habit is also a vital determinant of attention. The kind of habit we found in our life, our attention is drawn to such things. if a person has habit to play cricket, then his attention is always drawn to it, and he will listen to cricket commentaries with attention.
Past Experience: It is also affect attention. If we know by our past experience that a particular person is sincere to us, we shall pay attention to whatever he advises us. If our experience is contrary, we shall not attend even to his most serous advice.

Apart from these above factors, aptitude, attitude, mental set, disposition and temperament etc., are also an internal factors.

SPAN OF ATTENTION

Span of attention refers to the number of objects, letters and digits one can attend to in a fraction of a second so as exclude eye movement or counting – Prem Praksh.
The extent or limit of the ability of a person to attend to a concentrate on something. The length of time which a reader can concentrate on what he is reading without thinking of anything else is called Span of attention.
It varies with age, physical, mental and emotional condition and nature of material read.
Attention brings an object into consciousness. How many objects can be brought into consciousness at a time, the number of them is called span of attention. On an average span of attention of a child is limited to 4 to 5 whereas for adults it is within 6 to 7 letters or digits.
Tachistoscope is the apparatus using for determine the span of attention.

DISTRACTION

Meaning:

Distraction means the driving of attention or some interference in attention. For example, when one is studying, the sound of a song or noise breaks in upon attention. The object which causes the distraction is called distractor.

Definition:

Distraction may be defined as any stimulus whose presence interferes with the process of attention or draws away attention from the object to which we wish to attend – H.R.Bhatia.
A distraction may be defined as any factor which normally tends to break up attention – Prem Prakash.

Sources of Distraction

The sources of distraction can be roughly divided into two - external and internal sources.

1. External Factors: It is also called environmental factors. These are more common and prominent. Noise, music, improper lighting, uncomfortable seats, inadequate ventilation, defective method of teaching, improper use of teaching aids, defective voice of the teacher are the common external distractors in the classrooms.

2. Internal Factors: Emotional disturbances, ill-health, anger, fear, feeling of insecurity, boredom, lack of motivation, feeling of fatigue, lack of interest, unrelated subject matter are the examples for internal distractor.

Forms of Distraction

Normally distraction can be divided into two forms:

Continuous Distraction: As the name suggests, it is the continuous distraction of attention. For example, the sound of radio or gramophone played continuously, the noise of market place etc. Experiments say adjustment to continuous distraction takes place quickly.
Discontinuous Distraction: This type of distraction is irregular, being interspersed with intervals. For example, the hearing of somebody’s voice every now and then. It interferes with work because of the impossibility of adjustment.

Suggestions to remove Distraction:

Some major suggests of removing distraction are:

Being Active in Work: Work in distraction sometimes calls for more energy, so that of adjusting to it, or removing it, is to become more active in work.
Disregard of Distraction: The presence of a distracting factor while a man works is no extraordinary condition, and so the best way to remove this elements is to disregard it. The distraction is effectively only when attention is diverted to it, so that inattention, even to the most serious distraction will keep the activity from being interfered with in any way.
Making of Distraction a part of the work: Distraction causes an obstacle only when it is distinct from or opposed to the activity since attention can be focuses just on one object at one time. Therefore, another method of making a distraction ineffective is to make it a part of the work. But it is very difficult to make an uninteresting or contradictory distraction a part of the work because in this the interests, nature and capacities of the person are involved.

Educational Implications:

· The external factors are common in schools. So, the teacher must be creating the favourable situation for the students learning. The management must provide the adequate materials and facilities to the students for better learning of the students.

· The teacher should realize the particular characteristics of his students with the individual attention. He should try to cultivate favourable mental attitudes towards the subject and school activities.

INATTENTION

As a matter of fact there are two fields of consciousness – the field of attention and inattention. The field of attention is in the center of consciousness and that of inattention to the edge consciousness. The things on the edge of consciousness influence the mind to some extent, but our attention is not diverted to them.

Inattention is required for attention. If we want to pay attention to a thing, we will have to overlook other things. If a student wants to pay attention to his lesson, then it is necessary that he diverts his attention from other things.

F D G J K

O Y U A W

V C N S Q

Z M I T R

Here are given twenty letters of alphabet. if we pay attention to the alphabet ‘N’, then other letters are overlooked and if we pay attention to the alphabet ‘ A’ then attention is diverted from other alphabets etc. Now we have attention on ‘A’ and inattention on other alphabets.

SENSATION

v Any experience that takes place through a sense organ is called sensation. Sensation is also called as the gate ways of knowledge, because all our knowledge is based upon the functioning of sense organs. Sensation is the simple and most elementary process, which creates the desire to work for something and how to know something based on previous experiences.

v It is purely sensory knowledge, which does not have any relationship with any knowledge or awareness. A sensation does not help us acquiring complete knowledge.

Definition:

The impressions received through the sense organs are called sensations – Mathur.
A sensation is an elementary cognitive experience – Dr. Jalota.
Sensations are first things in the way of consciousness – James.
Sensation is defined as the simplest of all conscious experience – Duglas and Halland.
Sensation is the process of receiving, translating and transmitting information to the brain from the external and internal environment – Huffman.

Types of Sensation

We can divide easily the sensation process into five categories on the basis of sense organs. The following table clearly indicates all the sense organs, senses and the amount of knowledge gaining through them.

Sl. No.	Type of Sensation	Sense Organ	Senses	Knowledge gaining
1.	Visual Sensation	Eye	Sight	83%
2.	Auditory Sensation	Ear	Hear	11%
3.	Olfactory Sensation	Nose	Smell	3.5%
4.	Taste Sensation	Tongue	Taste	1.0%
5.	Tactual Sensation	Skin	Touch	1.5%

Elements of Sensation

The main elements of the sensation process are given below:

Quality: the nature of each sensation is different from other. Every type of sensation has got its own special quality or characteristics. This quality of the sensation helps us to distinguish one from other. For example, green sensation of eye, cold sensation of skin.
Intensity: Sensation differs in respect of its intensity. If two sounds are created at once, one will be more intense than the other. It is differs in same type of sense or among the different types of sensations.
Extensity: Extensity refers the extension in space. Each sensation has its extensity. The vaster the stimulus, the more extensive the sensation. The extensity is not true for all the types of sensation, but restricted to certain.
Duration: Every sensation has its duration or lasts for certain time. The auditory sensation of aero plane sound is more extensive than the sound of the calling bell.
Clarity: every sensation has got clarity. The sensation which lasts for longer period becomes clearer than the sensation lasts for shorter period.

PERCEPTION

MEANING:

When things come into contact with any of our sense organs, we feel sensation. When brain comes to know the form of these sensations, it comes to know the stimulus fully. This cognitive experience of the brain is called perception.

Perception is the process by which an organism interprets sensory input so that it acquires meaning. i.e. Perception = sensation + meaning (interpretation).

DEFINITION:

Perception is the process of getting to know objects and objective facts by use of senses – Woodworth.
Perception refers to the complex processes which begin with the stimulation of a sense organ and end with an interpretation of the resulting neural activity by the organism i.e. with the meaning of the stimulus – James A. Dyal.

All knowledge of the world is ultimately obtained thorough sensory experiences. Sensation alone is meaningless and it will not result in acquisition of knowledge. Sensation is to be followed by application of mind. Then it results in perception. In other words we can say that the first response to a stimulus is sensation and perception is the next response following sensation.

NATURE OF PERCEPTION

Perception is meaningful.
Perception is selective.
Perception is based on sensation.
Perception is preventive and representative process of mind.
Perception needs observation / experience.
Perception makes use of images.
Perception is both analytic and synthetic.
In perception sensory data gets enriched.

ERRORS OF PERCEPTION

It is quite possible that the same object may be perceived differently by different people or by the same person on different occasions. There are two errors of perception namely illusion and hallucination.

Illusion: A wrong perception is called illusion. A state in which errors of perception are immediately confirmed by experience is called an illusion. In illusion we take a wrong meaning of the stimulus present before us. It is related with the stimulus. For example, at dim light the rope that we find on the way is taken for a snake. An average sized man appears to be taller in a group of short men than in a group of tall men. One error may result from inadequate stimulation, poorly functioning sense organs or incorrect interpretation of sensations.

Common types of illusions:

1. Illusion regarding distance

2. Illusion regarding size and shape of the things

3. Illusion regarding colour

4. Illusion regarding movement and speed

Causes for Illusion:

· Irregular or unusual conditions in the external world

· Defects in sensory organs

· Anticipation expectation and suggestions

· Interest and habits

· Previous experience and present selfishness

· Present aptitudes

Hallucination: Hallucination is false perception. Here, a person experiences of the stimulus even in the absence of it. For example, at night a person may see a ghost when practically there is no stimulus either in the form of a human figure or anything resembling it. This is a case of hallucination. There is no stimulus in hallucination and memory image is taken for perception.

A hallucination is a mental state in which a person begins to perceive something in spite of the absence of any external stimulus. There are two kinds of hallucinations.

1. Visual Hallucination: A hallucination which occurs in the sphere of vision is called a visual hallucination, and it means seeing an object which is not in front of eyes at all.

2. Auditory Hallucination: The hallucination which occurs in the sphere of hearing is called auditory hallucination. For example, while sitting in solitude / loneliness, we may suddenly feel that someone is calling us, through; in reality no one has called us.

Causes for Hallucination:

· More but vague and irrelevant continuous thinking

· Excessive imagination or day-dreaming

· The will and desire in the unconscious mind

· Hysteria / madness, schizophrenia and other related mental diseases

FACTORS RELATED TO PERCEPTION

There are several factors involved in perception. They are categorized under two types namely, external and internal factors.

External Factors:

Similarity: Similar elements tend to be perceived as belong together and they are viewed as wholes. Stimuli that have the same size, shape and colour tend to be perceived as parts of the pattern.

2. Proximity: When objects are close to each other, the tendency is to perceive them together rather than separately. Even if the individual items do not have any connection with each other they will be grouped under a single pattern or perceived as a meaningful picture.

3. Continuity: anything which extends itself into space in the same shape, size and colour without a break is perceived as awhole figure. For example, several dots from a curved line, an individual may perceive the figure as two different continuous lines irrespective of the factors like proximity and similarity of the dots. Thus, the whole figure is organized into a continuum though the dots are unconnected.

Inclusiveness: The pattern which includes all the elements present in a given figure will be perceived more readily than the other figures. The hexagonal figure formed by all the dots may be perceived more readily than the square formed by the four middle dots. Single dots at either end act as a fence or enclosure within which all the other elements are included.

5. Closure: Closed areas more readily form in group. The illusion of figure was caused by closure which did not allow the attention to dwell on by gaps, so that the figures appeared organized.

Internal Factors:

1. Familiarity: An organisation, with which the person is aquatinted, is perceived easily and with enthusiasm. Seeing a familiar picture quiz, we at once understand its reality and solution and the remaining figure forms no obstacle in this. But if the aquatinted person is affected by some other part of the picture, he will be incapable of recognizing it, not withstanding his familiarity.

2. Mental Set: Mental set has a by no means insignificant effect upon the organization of the sensation. One of the causes of mental set is habit. For example, a philosopher looks at the truths of the universe, while a trader is always involved in worthy things.

3. Reinforcing Factors: These include coherence and good figure. The supplementing of the incomplete is a mental tendency, which diverts our attention from gaps and presents a whole. The idea of good figure is explained by the picture, in the description of closure.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

Sl. No	Sensation	Perception
1.	Sensation is a normal, simplest, initial mental process	Perception is a complex and developed mental activity
2.	It begins with stimulus	It begins with some object / fringe of meaning
3.	It is based on external stimuli, conditions	It is associated with internal mental conditions
4.	There is passivity in sensation	There is activity in perception
5.	The basis of sensation is mental analysis	The processes of perception linked with actual life experience.

CONCEPT FORMATION

Definitions of Concept:

Concept is a process of representing a common property of objects or events – Morgan.
Concept is a process with represents the similarities in otherwise diverse objects, situations or events – Munn.
Concepts are those thoughts which mention things, incidents, qualities, etc. – Woodworth.
Concept is the process of discrimination of the common features and relations in the world of events, things and persons – Hammerton.

Meaning of Concept:

o A concept is the sum total of what we know about the object. It refers to a generalized idea about the objects / persons /events. It stands for a general class and not for a particular object / person/event. It is a common name given on the basis of similarities or commonness found in different objects / persons / events. There are concepts of objects such as cat, tree, chair etc., concepts of persons such as mother, Indian, Negro etc., and concepts of qualities such as honesty, goodness, obedience.

o It is a mental disposition that helps in understanding the meaning of the objects or perceived earlier.

o In one sense, it is general mental image of the objects / persons /events experienced or perceived earlier.

Nature of Concept:

A concept is not static, it is always changing. For example first a child considers even the walls and doors to be living things. Then it understands they are nonliving, considers cars, buses and running objects to be alive. Later, it learns that only animals and plants are living.
The concept is not common for all, different persons may have different concept about the same object / events.
Concept is a part of thought process.
Concept can be formed without the use of language.
Concert formation is the association of certain stimuli and responses.
Concept is the process of discrimination of the common features.
Concepts are very useful in recognizing, naming and identifying the objects / persons / events.

Types of Concept Formation:

Direct Experience: It is the first type of concept formation, in which the learner develops concept through direct experience with the particular objects / persons / events. It is developed during from the early childhood onwards. For example, the concept about cow.
Indirect Experience: Here the learner develops concept through pictures, photos and reading descriptions, hearing from other. For example, the concept about Kangaroo.
Faulty Concepts: The concepts or the general ideas we have about the objects, persons or events, are not always adequate and accurate. Small children have so many concepts that are quite erroneous and inadequate. For example, one’s anxiety over the crossing of his way by a cat or one’s feeling of hatred towards the person belonging to other caste or religion is the result of faulty concepts. Faulty concepts should not be allowed to develop in children.

Process in Concept Formation:

The process of concept formation has three important phases.

Perception: Experiences or learning in any form is the starting point of the process of concept formation. Our perceptions or imaginary experiences, formal or informal learning, provide opportunities for getting mental images of the objects, persons or events.
Abstraction: The mind analyses the perceived images and synthesizes what is common to all, neglecting what is particular. This process of observing similarities and commonness is named as abstraction.
Generalization: After making such observation in the form of abstraction for a numbers of times the child is able to generalize or form a general idea about the common properties of some objects or events. On account of this generalization, he will develop a concept about these things or events.

For example, the child perceives a black cow at the first time and is told that it is a cow, he tries to form an idea about it. In the beginning the idea is very particular in nature. Later on, when he perceives a white or red cow he does not at once, call it a cow. He again makes an enquiry and comes to that these are cows. He tries to compare the particular mental image the idea of the previously perceived cow with the images he is having, at present, by perceiving white and red cows. In this way he compares and contrasts the similarities or dissimilarities of his mental images related to all perceived cows. In spite of the differences in colour, appearance etc., they are found to possess so many common properties or characteristics.

PIAGET’S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Introduction

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was one of the 20th century’s most influential researchers in the area of developmental psychology. He was a child prodigy who published his first article at the age of 11. He originally trained in the areas of biology and philosophy and considered himself a “genetic epistemologist.”

He was mainly interested in the biological influences on “how we come to know”. And believed that what distinguishes human beings from other animals is our ability to do “abstract symbolic reasoning.”

While working in Binet’s test lab in Paris, Piaget became interested in how children think. He noticed that young children's answers were qualitatively than older children. This suggested to him that the younger children were not less knowledgeable but, instead, answered the questions differently than their older peers because they thought differently.

This implies that human development is qualitative (changes in kind) rather than quantitative (changes in amount).

What is Cognition?

o How people think and understand.

o "the act or process of knowing in the broadest sense; specifically, an intellectual process by which knowledge is gained from perception or ideas” (Webster's Dictionary)

What is Cognitive Development?

o The acquisition of the ability to think, reason, and problem solve.

o It is the process by which people's thinking changes across the life span.

o Piaget studied cognitive development by observing children in particular, to examine how their thought processes change with age.

o He pioneered a way of thinking about how children grow psychologically.

o It is the growing apprehension and adaptation to the physical and social environment.

Cognitive Structure

Process of Cognitive Development

As a biologist, Piaget was interested in how an organism adapts to its environment (Piaget described this ability as intelligence.)

Schema: To know an object one must act upon it either physically or mentally.
Organization: The way cognitive acts are grouped and arranged to form sequences, mental “folders” or schemata.
Assimilation: The process of using or transforming the environment so that it can be placed in preexisting cognitive structures.
For Example: an infant uses a sucking schema that was developed by sucking on a small bottle when attempting to suck on a larger bottle.
Accommodation: The process of changing cognitive structures in order to accept something from the environment.
For Example: the infant modifies a sucking schema developed by sucking on a pacifier to one that would be successful for sucking on a bottle.
Equilibration: This adaptation is driven by a biological drive to obtain balance between schemes and the environment.

STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Stage One: The Sensor motor Stage (birth to 2 years of age) (Infancy)

o It is centered on the infant trying to make sense of the world.

o An infant’s knowledge of the world is limited to their sensory perceptions and motor activities.

Sub-stages of the Sensor motor Stage: It can be divided into six separate sub-stages.

Reflexes (0-1 month): the child understands the environment purely through inborn reflexes such as sucking, grasping and looking.
Primary Circular Reactions (1-4 months): It involves coordinating sensation and new schemas.
For example: A child may such his or her thumb by accident and then later intentionally repeat the action. These actions are repeated because the infant finds them pleasurable.
Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months): The child becomes more focused on the world and begins to intentionally repeat an action in order to trigger a response in the environment.
For example: A child will purposefully pick up a toy in order to put it in his or her mouth.
Coordination of Reactions (8-12 months): The child starts to show clearly intentional actions. The child may also combine schemas in order to achieve a desired effect.
For example: A child might realize that a rattle will make a sound when shaken.
Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months): Children begin a period of trial-and-error experimentation.
For example: A child may try out different sounds or actions as a way of getting attention from a caregiver.
Early Representational Thought (18-24 months): Children begin to develop symbols to represent events or objects in the world.

Stage Two: The Preoperational Stage (2 to 7 years of age) (Toddler and Early Childhood)

The child is capable of more complex mental representations (i.e. words and images).
Cannot yet use logic or other organized thinking processes.
The child has very narrow thinking.
Does not understand Conservation - that objects can have the same basic properties even if it appears differently.
Find difficulty with Reversibility-realizing that an action can be reversed by other actions.
Ability to solve conservation problems depends on an understanding of three basic aspects of reasoning: identity, compensation, and reversibility.
With mastery of

Identity: The student realizes that material remains the same if nothing is added to or subtracted from the material.
Compensation: The student realizes that changes in one dimension can be offset by changes in another.
Reversibility: The student realizes that a change may be canceled out by mentally reversing the steps and returning to the origin.
Centrism: Focuses completely on one point, and so cannot see the bigger picture.
Egocentrism: Thinks that everyone sees things from his/her point of view. E.g.:” If I can’t see you, you can’t see me!”
Animism: Treating inanimate objects as living ones.
E.g.: Children bathing, dressing and feeding their dolls as if they are alive.

Stage Three: Concrete Operational Stage (7 to 12 years of age) (Childhood and early Adolescence)

Masters various conservation and reversibility concepts and begins to perform logical manipulations.
Classification and Seriation become possible.
Able to form a mental representation of a series of acts.
Transversibility is known i.e., If A=2B and A=2C, then can understand B=C.
Can play any game according to rule.
Develops abstract thinking, problem-solving ability good at the use inductive logic, but not the deductive method.
Continue to show narrow thinking when abstract reasoning is required, cannot think “outside of the box!”.

Stage Four: The Formal Operational Stage (from 11 to 12 years of age and up) (Adolescence and Adulthood)

The most complete stage of development.

o Thought becomes increasingly flexible and abstract, i.e., can carry out systematic experiments.

o The ability to systematically solve a problem in a logical and methodical way.

o Understand that nothing is absolute; everything is relative.

o Skills such as logical thought, deductive reasoning, and systematic planning develop inductive as well as deductive logic.

o Understand that the rules of any games or social system are developed by man by mutual agreement and hence could be changed or modified.

o The child’s way of thinking is at its most advanced, although the knowledge it has to work with will change.

Educational Implications

Emphasis on discovery approach in learning.
Curriculum should provide specific educational experience based on children’s developmental level.
Arrange class room activities so that they assist and encourage
self-learning.
Do not treat children as miniature adults; they think and learn differently from adults.
Practical learning situations.
Simple to Complex and Project method of teaching.
Co-curricular activities have equal importance as that of curricular experiences in the cognitive development of children.
Major goals of education are equal to the creative and critical thinking.

BRUNER’S CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY

A major theme in the theoretical framework of Bruner is that learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current / past knowledge. The learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to do so. Cognitive structure (i.e., schema, mental models) provides meaning and organization to experiences and allows the individual to "go beyond the information given".

As far as instruction is concerned, the instructor should try and encourage students to discover principles by themselves. The instructor and student should engage in an active dialog (i.e., Socratic learning). The task of the instructor is to translate information to be learned into a format appropriate to the learner's current state of understanding. Curriculum should be organized in a spiral manner so that the student continually builds upon what they have already learned.

Bruner (1966) states that a theory of instruction should address four major aspects:

1. predisposition towards learning,

2. the ways in which a body of knowledge can be structured so that it can be most readily grasped by the learner,

3. the most effective sequences in which to present material, and

4. The nature and pacing of rewards and punishments.

Good methods for structuring knowledge should result in simplifying, generating new propositions, and increasing the manipulation of information.

In his more recent work, Bruner (1986, 1990, and 1996) has expanded his theoretical framework to encompass the social and cultural aspects of learning as well as the practice of law.

Application:

Bruner's constructivist theory is a general framework for instruction based upon the study of cognition. Much of the theory is linked to child development research (especially Piaget). The ideas outlined in Bruner (1960) originated from a conference focused on science and math learning. Bruner illustrated his theory in the context of mathematics and social science programs for young children. The original development of the framework for reasoning processes is described in Bruner, Goodnow & Austin (1951). Bruner (1983) focuses on language learning in young children.

Note that Constructivism is a very broad conceptual framework in philosophy and science and Bruner's theory represents one particular perspective.

Example:

This example is taken from Bruner (1973):

"The concept of prime numbers appears to be more readily grasped when the child, through construction, discovers that certain handfuls of beans cannot be laid out in completed rows and columns. Such quantities have either to be laid out in a single file or in an incomplete row-column design in which there is always one extra or one too few to fill the pattern. These patterns, the child learns, happen to be called prime. It is easy for the child to go from this step to the recognition that a multiple table, so called, is a record sheet of quantities in completed multiple rows and columns. Here is factoring, multiplication and primes in a construction that can be visualized."

Principles:

1. Instruction must be concerned with the experiences and contexts that make the student willing and able to learn (readiness).

2. Instruction must be structured so that it can be easily grasped by the student (spiral organization).

3. Instruction should be designed to facilitate extrapolation and or fill in the gaps (going beyond the information given).

BRUNER’S MODEL OF CONCEPT LEARNING

J. S. Bruner has suggested a model on concept attainment and structure in teaching. He proposes that economy in thinking and responding requires that we categorise phenomena according to their common attributes. An attribute is a property or characteristic of an object, which differentiates it from the other. Colour, texture, form, size, number of parts, position and sounds are examples of attributes. We categorise objects having common characteristics into one group. For example, we categorise certain animals having four legs, a tail, and a barking voice as dogs. Similarly, we cal also categorise more abstract concepts such as enemy or friend, artisan or professional etc. For teaching about a concept, the teacher must identify such attributes of that concept, which differentiate it from others. For example, dog and cat have four legs and a tail, but cat’s voice is different from a dog’s.

Bruner studied the strategies people use in acquiring concepts. For this, he used a set of cards, some cards having borders, others without. All the cards have centre figures varying in shape (square, circle or cross), in colour (red, green or black), and in number (single, double or triple). Each card thus combines four attributes: figure shape, figure number, figure colour and presence or absence of borders. Each attribute has three values (variations as listed above). The subject is told that the experimenter has a concept in mind, say red circles, and the subject was to identify that concept. The subject is asked to select a card and then told by the experimenter whether or not the card was an instance of the concept. With these data in mind, the subject would select another card to determine further the attributes of the concepts and would continue doing so till he finds the answer i.e. the card with red circles.

Bruner identified four strategies in concept attainment:

1. Simultaneous scanning strategy.

2. Successive scanning strategy.

3. Conservative focusing strategy.

4. Focus gambling strategy.

Simultaneous Scanning

In this type of strategy, the subject uses each positive instance (each correctly identified card), to deduce which combinations of attribute values are no longer valid. The subject must keep in mind simultaneously all the rejected combinations in order to narrow down the range of subsequent alternatives. This technique is not very efficient since it places a great deal of strain on the subject’s memory.

Successive Scanning

In this technique, the subject makes an overall estimate of each correct characteristic of the concept and the test, each one by one. This is called successive scanning since the subject tests individual hypothesis about the correct characteristic one at a time in succession. The technique is also inefficient as the subject may choose redundant cards, which give no new information.

Conservative Focusing

In this technique, each attribute is tested by selecting a card that is different from a focus card in only one attribute. If the new card is still a positive instance, then the subject knows that the varied attribute is not part of the concept. If, however, the changed attribute yields a negative instance, then the attribute is part of the concept. For example, the concept to be attained is “red circles.” Assume that the subject encounters a positive card with three red circles and two borders. This card becomes the focus card and each variable is examined by selecting additional cards. The selection sequence is given below. A plus sign in the parentheses means the card is a positive instance of the concept, a minus sign in parentheses that the card is a negative instance.

Four cards:

3 red circles, 2 borders (+) 2 red circles, 2 borders + first decision: eliminate “three figures” as a relevant variable.

3 green circles, 2 borders (-) second decision: retain red as relevant attribute value.

3 red crosses, 2 borders (-) third decision: retain circle as relevant attribute value.

3red circles one border (+) fourth decision: eliminate “two borders” as relevant attribute value.

Conclusion: The concept is “red circle.”

This technique is more efficient since the subject uses a correct instance as a point of reference and selects additional cards to test each attribute value individually.

Focus Gambling

In this strategy, the subject focuses on a correct card, but varies more than one attribute at a time. This technique can give early result if cards chosen yield a positive instance. If, however, the subject encounters a negative instance, he cannot tell which attribute was essential. In that case he has to revert to simultaneous scanning technique to test hypotheses. This strategy is called gambling since the subject takes a chance varying two attributes at a time.

Implications

Bruner’s strategies of concepts learning can be applied in science teaching. The use of discovery and enquiry techniques in teaching science provides the pupils with experiences quite similar to the card tasks used by Bruner. For example, if we want the pupils to invent their own system of classification of plants and animals, they can do it by identifying the attribute and putting the plants or animals with common attributes in one group.

IMAGINATION

Imagination is the thinking of remote objects – Mc Dougall.
Imagination is the consciousness of object not present to the sense stated in the more useful way. It consists in the ideational revival / return of previous sensory excitations – Angell.
Cognitive experience in the absence of actual sensory stimulation, often related to some previous percepts – G.D. Boaz.

Imagination

Imagination, in the psychologist's meaning, might be called the consciousness of objects not present to sense. Thus, we can imagine a star which we do not see; we can imagine a melody which we do not hear, an odour which we do not actually smell, etc. Stated in the more usual way, imagination consists in the reinstatement of previous sensory excitations. Speaking broadly, both perception and imagination would evidently involve the consciousness of objects, and their primary distinction from one another would be found in the physiological fact that one arises immediately from a sense organ stimulation, while the other does not.

Types of Imagination

There are two forms of imagination namely “reproductive “ and ” productive " imagination.

Reproductive Imagination - Reproductive imagination consists in the representation of perceptions, or images, which have previously appeared in our consciousness. Thus, I may close my eyes and obtain a visual image of the desk at which I am writing. Such an image would illustrate what psychologists mean by reproductive imagery, inasmuch as my imagination would in this case simply repeat, or reinstate, some conscious experience which has previously been present in my mind. Evidently at this rate the great mass of the events which we are able to remember would be recalled by means of reproductive imagination. Our ordinary memory processes would be instances of reproductive imagination, or, as it is sometimes called, re-presentation.

Productive Imagination - Productive imagination on the other hand involves the appearance in consciousness of images which have never before entered the mind in their present order and form. Thus, the visual image of an eight-legged dog might be called up, although it is reasonably certain that most of us have never seen such an animal, even a picture of it. Such an image would illustrate, nor rough way, what is meant by productive, or constructive, imagination.

Imagery

Many symbols participate of thinking and imagination. Image is just such a symbol, though its stability, vividness and intensity is less when compared to perception. Image is also different from concept. The difference between image and concept is explained as under:

Concept is general and formless, while the image is specific and has a form.
Thinking, of necessity, includes concepts, but image are not an essential part of thinking.
Images are an important constituent of imagination, but concepts are used comparatively infrequently.

Images can be classified in many types. The different major types are:

After Image: Our sense organs continue to have sensations from objects for some time after the sensation has been received. This is called after sensation image or after image. For example, the scene and incidents of a picture remain for quite sometime on the memory screen in the form of images, after the picture is seen.
Eidetic Image: These images are as stable, vivid and intense as in any perception. These types of images, similar to perception, are found more in children.
Memory Image: The vividity and extensity is less in a memory image than eidetic image, the points of similarity between it and perception are very few. As a general rule, there are more memory images than other types of images in the mind. These images also serve as reminders of the place and mode of the acquisition of the experience.
Imagined Image: The memory image has the same form which the perception exhibits but the imagined image results from the distortion of perception. Even though it is not a novel creation, it surely is a reorganization and reinterpretation of experiences. For example the image of Ravana, will be an imagined image because people do not have ten heads, in the objective world. These imagined images are found in abundance in human life, especially in day-dreams and the like which abound in these.
Dream Image: These images are not identical with imagined images. The unconscious mind playa a part in this. These images are often symbolic. In Freud’s opinion rivers, mountains, trees, depression, etc., are symbols of different male and female sex organs.
Hypnologic Image: These images are aroused when the person enters the subconscious state from the waking state. The images in this state of trance appear real and are distinct and intense.
Sensory Image: A person generates sensory images equivalent to the number of sense organs. Thus, the following sensory images are found in human beings.

Visual Imagery: These are dependent upon the knowledge received by the eyes. People with intense visual imagery remember visual experiences for a long time.
Auditory Imagery: These images depend upon the sensation receives by the ears.
Gustatory Imagery: In this, taste is experienced even in the absence of external stimuli.
Tactual Imagery: There is feeling or experience of heat or cold or weight/ mass even in the absence of external stimuli.
Olfactory Imagery: This includes imagery of smell.
Mobile Imagery: This results in the feeling of action or motion even when either or both are not taking place.

These sensory images are not equal in quantity in every person; they differ from individual to individual.

REASONING

Introduction

Reasoning is the cognitive process of looking for reasons for beliefs, conclusions, actions or feelings. Humans have the ability to engage in reasoning about their own reasoning using introspection. Different forms of such reflection on reasoning occur in different fields. Although reasoning was once thought to be a uniquely human capability, other animals also engage in reasoning.

Meaning

In philosophy, the study of reasoning typically focuses on what makes reasoning efficient or inefficient, appropriate or inappropriate, good or bad. Philosophers do this by either examining the form or structure of the reasoning within arguments, or by considering, the broader methods used to reach particular goals of reasoning. Psychologists and cognitive scientists, in contrast, tend to study how people reason, which cognitive and neural processes are engaged, how cultural factors affect the inferences people draw. The properties of logics, which may be used to reason, are studied in mathematical logic.

Definition

v Reasoning is stepwise thinking with a purpose or goal in mind – Garrett.

v Reasoning is the term applied to highly purposeful controlled selective thinking – Gates.

v In reasoning, items /facts/principles furnished by recall, present observation or both are combined and exclaimed to see what conclusion can be drawn from the combination – Woodworth.

v Reasoning is the word used to describe the mental recognition of cause and effect relationships. It may be the prediction of an event from an observed cause or the inference of a cause from an observed event – Skinner.

v Reasoning is combining past experiences in order to solve a problem, which cannot be solved by mere reproduction of earlier solutions – Munn.

v Reasoning consists in making a new judgement on the basis of judgements already formed and is commonly defined as perceiving relations among judgements or see agreement or disagreement – Bhatia.

v Reasoning is a process of delaying response until data are arranged into a new combination so that a clearly perceived goal can be reached – Bernard.

Reasoning Methods

One approach to the study of reasoning is to identify various forms of reasoning that may be used to support or justify conclusions. The main division between forms of reasoning that is made in philosophy is between deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning. Formal logic has been described as 'the science of deduction’. The study of inductive reasoning is generally carried out within the field known as informal logic or critical thinking.

Types of Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning – Specific to General or Part to whole

Induction or inductive reasoning, sometimes called inductive logic, is the process of reasoning in which the premises of an argument are believed to support the conclusion but do not mean it i.e. they do not ensure its truth. Induction is a form of reasoning that makes generalizations based on individual instances. It is used to assign properties or relations to types based on an observation instance (i.e., on a number of observations or experiences) or to formulate laws based on limited observations of recurring phenomenal patterns. Induction is employed, for example, in using specific propositions such as:

This ice is cold or (All ice I have ever touched was cold).

To infer general propositions such as: All ice is cold.

Another example would be:

Vijay is mortal;

Arun is mortal;

Edward is mortal;

Mydeen is mortal. Therefore, all men are mortal.

Deductive Reasoning – General to Specific or Whole to Part

Deductive reasoning, sometimes called deductive logic, is reasoning which uses deductive arguments to move from given statements (premises) to conclusions, which must be true if the premises are true. An example of deductive reasoning, given by Aristotle, is

All men are mortal. (major premise)
Socrates is a man. (minor premise)
Socrates is mortal. (conclusion)

PROBLEM SOLVING

Problem solving forms part of thinking. Considered the most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of more routine or fundamental skills (Goldstein & Levin, 1987). It occurs if an organism or an artificial intelligence system does not know how to proceed from a given state to a desired goal state. It is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping.

Definition

· Problem solving behaviour occurs in novel of difficult situations in which a solution is not obtained by the habitual methods of applying concepts and principles derived from past experience in very similar situations – Woodworth.

· Problem solving is a process of overcoming difficulties that appear to interfere with the attainment of a goal. It is a procedure of making adjustments in spite of interferences – Skinner.

The Problem Solving Process

The Problem Solving process consists of a sequence of sections that fit together depending on the type of problem to be solved. These are:

1. Problem Definition

The normal process for solving a problem will initially involve defining the problem you want to solve. You need to decide what you want achieve and write it down. Often people keep the problem in their head as a vague idea and can so often get lost in what they are trying to solve that no solution seems to fit. Merely writing down the problem forces you to think about what you are actually trying to solve and how much you want to achieve. The first part of the process not only involves writing down the problem to solve, but also checking that you are answering the right problem. It is a check-step to ensure that you do not answer a side issue or only solve the part of the problem that is most easy to solve. People often use the most immediate solution to the first problem definition that they find without spending time checking the problem is the right one to answer.

2. Problem Analysis

The next step in the process is often to check where we are, what the current situation is and what is involved in making it a problem. You must have a set of criteria by which to evaluate any new solutions or you will not know whether the idea is workable or not. This section of the problem solving process ensures that time is spent in stepping back and assessing the current situation and what actually needs to be changed.

After this investigation, it is often good to go back one-step to reconfirm that your problem definition is still valid. Frequently after the investigation people discover that the problem they really want to answer is very different from their original interpretation of it.

3. Generating possible Solutions

When you have discovered the real problem that you want to solve and have investigated the climate into which the solution must fit, the next stage is to generate a number of possible solutions. At this stage, you should concentrate on generating many solutions and should not evaluate them at all. Very often, an idea, which would have been discarded immediately, when evaluated properly, can be developed into a superb solution. At this stage, you should not pre-judge any potential solutions but should treat each idea as a new idea in its own right and worthy of consideration.

4. Analyzing the Solutions

This section of the problem solving process is where you investigate the various factors about each of the potential solutions. You note down the good and bad points and other things, which are relevant to each solution. Even at this stage, you are not evaluating the solution because if you do so then you could decide not to write down the valid good points about it because overall you think it will not work. However, you might discover that by writing down its advantages that it has a totally unique advantage. Only by discovering this you might choose to put the effort in to develop the idea so that it will work.

5. Selecting the best Solution(s)

This is the section where you look through the various influencing factors for each possible solution and decide which solutions to keep and which to disregard. You look at the solution as a whole and use your judgement as to whether to use the solution or not. In Innovation Toolbox, you can vote using either a Yes/No/Interesting process or on a sliding scale depending on how good the idea is. Sometimes pure facts and figures dictate which ideas will work and which will not. In other situations, it will be purely feelings and intuition that decides. Remember that intuition is really a lifetimes experience and judgement compressed into a single decision.

By voting for the solutions, you will end up with a shortlist of potential solutions. You may want to increase the depth in the analysis of each idea and vote again on that shortlist to further refine your shortlist.

You will then end up with one, many or no viable solutions. In the case where you have no solutions that work, you will need to repeat the generation of solutions section to discover more potential solutions. Alternatively, you might consider re-evaluating the problem again as sometimes you may not find a solution because the problem definition is not well defined or self-contradictory.

6. Planning the next course of action (Next Steps)

This section of the process is where you write down what you are going to do next. Now that you have a potential solution or solutions you need to decide how you will make the solution happen. This will involve people doing various things at various times in the future and then confirming that they have been carried out as planned. This stage ensures that the valuable thinking that has gone into solving the problem becomes reality. This series of Next Steps is the logical step to physically solving the problem.

ARUL LAWRENCE (அருள் லாரன்ஸ்)

Thursday, May 10, 2018

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT