THE MIND
Brain vs. Mind
Perception
Emotion
Learning
Memory
Consciousness
Language
Problem-Solving
Mind vs. Soul
YOUR MIND
OUR MINDS
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Bibliography
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Learning
Neurons are connected at both ends to many other neurons, and though they may receive many signals at one time, they are either stimulated or not (turned on or left off) according to whether a certain chemical activation level has been reached at their receiving synapses. Connections are not permanently fixed, as new dendrites sprout off of the axon and reach out to the synapses of other nerves. If stimulation of a neuron causes stimulation of an adjacent neuron then that connection is strengthened, while a connection may weaken or disappear if no stimulation between the two occurs. Neurotransmitters work not only to stimulate other neurons but also to repress, or prevent their stimulation. This is the theoretical, neurological basis of learning.
Also important to consider are "mirror neurons." These are groups of neurons which are stimulated both when an action (such as crying or climbing a set of stairs) is perceived in others, and when the same action is done by yourself. Our ability to empathize or sympathize with someone else and our ability to learn by mimicking others were recently linked to these fast-changing brain structures.
Childhood Learning
There are things a baby knows how to do as soon as it´s born, like crying when upset. A newborn can also identify its mother (and some studies suggest father also) by sight, smell, and the sound of her voice. Other things a baby can do while still in the womb, like sucking its thumb, "practicing" for the real thing.
Because these skills are present before the baby is exposed to information from the outside environment, some researchers call them genetically determined. (It would be more accurate to say they are determined by the interaction of the baby´s genes with the environment of womb.) But genes themselves cannot be complex enough to determine the long-term formation of the brain and most learning done after birth. Why then do nearly all children learn the same sorts of things through the same sorts of stages at more or less similar rates?
The answer may lie in a set of theories called "Predestined Learning," which hold that genes determine the formation of the brain only enough for the brain to begin determining its own formation, and that universals in human cognition and learning can be explained through the possibilities and limitations of the learned information itself, as it is represented in the mind.
Why does progress occur in discrete stages? A child may seem say its first word or take its first steps "out of nowhere," but has in fact been practicing the skills necessary to make these firsts for some time. Not until enough skills are ready to begin performing an action can the older ways of doing things be set aside for the new one. So learning may be said to be progressing constantly, but it can only show itself as new skills in stages.
It´s usually easier to learn new skills by relating them to things you already know, so certain early-mastered skills will become the foundation for many later skills. This also means that this foundation will be more resistant to change because so many new skills depend on it.
Learning Meaning
To understand something is to be able to recognize its "structure," and to be able to use it, or know its "function" as it relates to our role(s). It´s difficult to say what the meaning of something by itself is to anybody, because in the mind each thing takes its meaning from its relation to everything else. We place concepts in different arrangements with eachother, thus changing their meanings, depending on our goals.
To the infant, the world is like a vast, unified sea of sensation. He soon learns to differentiate between himself and the environment, and then begins the long trek of learning to distinguish between different "things" in the environment, different states within himself, different types of relation between things and things, or things and himself, and different states of possibility for both. We can observe this process, for example when toddlers use the word "dog" to refer to most animals, or "run" to all types of movement.
In defining a thing it is important that the definition of its structure be specific enough—but not too specific—for the thing to meet its defined function. For example, our inner definition for the structure of a fly-swatter may specify that it have something to hold and a striking surface. This definition leaves many types of shapes open for consideration (see below). Some, based on the ease and speed they can be maneuvered and the area of their striking surfaces might make better fly-swatters than others, but it´s difficult to say that any one of them just can or can´t be a fly-swatter.
Our mental definitions of things are not like dictionary entries, they include also a record of our experience with the thing, as well as whatever personal significance the thing does or could have. (To some a stamp is just a stamp, but to stamp collectors many of them seem unique and important. The smell of baked bread may be just another smell, or it may remind one strongly of home, family, and specific events in our childhoods.) This is important in determining what we perceive as an obstacle, an opportunity, or what we fail to perceive at all.
The difference between our understanding of the properties of a thing, and our understanding or memory of our own experiences with it, are most likely related again to the concept of "mirror neurons," discussed in the previous sections.
Techniques for Learning
A machine, provided only that there are a limited number of method-steps it can use to solve a problem, and that it has a way of knowing when its goal is reached, can theoretically "learn" to solve any problem given enough time. It may be helpful to begin our examination of learning this way, although in reality even the simplest problems would take a virtually infinite amount of time to solve this way.
This type of learning/problem-solving can be made more efficient if we have some way to monitor our progress, such as by comparing our current situation with an ideal "solution" state. This state can be compared with one´s current situation, and as differences are detected, new subgoals are formed and delegated to mental agents.
Also, goals can be better met by making them into smaller "subgoals." This often happens automatically, and is a great impetus for learning. For example, a child who wants to reach for a toy on a counter--top will first have to consider how to stand on its toes, then reach, then grab, then draw the toy to itself without dropping it.
Children often use a type of special trial-and-error learning (similar to the "scientific method" used by some adults) in which one behavior at a time is engaged in and considered to learn more about the environment as a whole. For example, a child may reach out and touch a hot kettle and feel pain. Knowledge acquired: kettle is hot, don´t touch. This can be generalized to other types of objects which "seem similar," even before there is abstract knowledge of the causes of heating and thus pain.
One unique and important aspect of the human mind is the ability to perform "thought experiments," using mental models of phenomena, which is much quicker and easier, if not always as accurate, as performing real-world experiments, which is of course often impossible. We can be performing such experiments even in our sleep, trying to link together causes and effects, problems and solutions like pieces in a jig-saw puzzle. When a good fit seems to have been achieved, we become aware of a "great idea" we "just got."
We may wonder why we didn´t think of it before, but it´s probably because we were thinking with it and around it until we felt sure enough it was a good answer.
If we had to rely only on these techniques, however, none of us would survive. Our ways of living are based on thousands of years of accumulated human learning, passed on as culture by our parents and elders. In culture, as in each one of our minds, the techniques and ideas that are preserved are those that "work," or seem to meet our needs. Behavior can be encouraged or discouraged through rewards or punishments, but real learning occurs when a child rewards themselves for reaching a new level of understanding.
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