Analogy as the Core of Cognition

Douglas Hofstadter has an interesting discussion in a Presidential lecture at Stanford. Skip the introductions and start at 13 minutes 30 seconds to listen to Hofstadter.

Hofstadter believes that analogy making is at the core of all cognition, and what is especially interesting is how frequently analogies seem to occur in everyday experiences and how complex the parallels can be when suddenly we have a flash of insight, "That's just like...(something else)".

It's probably true that we don't think about using analogies as much as we should in education. Analogy-making abilities exist in preschoolers and studies even suggest that the use of analogies in present new concepts to young elementary school children improves learning and retrieval.



Another interesting read is Gentner's Analogy. In it, Dr. Gentner recalls an interesting study by Gick and Holyoak that found 30% of people primed with an analogous story thought to use it in solving a unique problem (10% solved it without the priming analogy); however, test subjects were simply given a hint to think about stories they had heard, 80% were able to solve the new problem (the problem was how to kill a tumor without too much surrounding irradiation; the analogy involved soldiers converging on a fort). So part of the dilemma for getting students (and adults for that matter) to solve problems - may be that they aren't accessing analogous situations from their fund of knowledge or memory. Perhaps some of the inventive souls and creative thinkers (like Hofstadter) are more attuned to analogies in their thinking and this gives them their creative edge.

Analogy: The spark for invention
Hofstadter's Review of Mental Leaps

Our Metaphorical Minds

Thanks Zenpundit for this interesting NYT post from Robert Sapolsky on metaphorical thinking. He cites research by investigators such as Chen-Bo Zhong who found that people recently excluded from a group really do feel colder (they ask for warmer drinks and snacks) and people who recently confessed to unethical lapses feel dirty (they're more likely to choose antiseptic wipes for a complimentary gift over pencils).

In other research, scientists found that metaphoric 'priming' could change social and political attitudes. Little creepy, huh? Subliminal effects. If one looks at Marcel Just's work involving literal and metaphorical meanings though, it's not surprising that cross-talk occurs. What is so surprising is how common it is and how significant the effect. It's an interesting thought that we are journeying through life constantly triggering metaphorical and literal meanings of which we are dimly aware.

No wonder strong language can seem like an assault and gut feelings are physical. Perhaps some very sensitive souls (poets etc.) are more in touch with our metaphorical milieu.

Slow Processing Speed...Video Game Therapy?

"I used to take these maths tests which were supposed to be done in one period and it took me not just that period but the next one which was a play period and sometimes the one beyond that before I finished the test. And it was only then that I started to do well." - Roger Penrose, mathematical physicist

On the WISC-IV, the most commonly used general ability or IQ test here in the US, the processing speed index is comprised from Symbol Search (a visual search task) and Coding (a visual symbol copying task). If all the other parts of the IQ test are high, but the processing speed index is low, there will almost always be significant problems keeping up with work demands in the classroom.

Slow processing speed seems to occur in many different situations, but the most common associated conditions are probably ADD / ADHD, dyslexia, premature birth or other birth stress or toxic exposure. We don't know whether Penrose had dyslexia, but interestingly, strong spatial thinkers alse seem to have this slower processing speed style perhaps because brain wiring that favors nonverbal over verbal thinking. Students with sensory processing disorder also often have very slow processing speeds. A very low PSI (Processing Speed Index) usually means slowness in visual scanning, decision-making, and motor output.

Because slow processing speed is not a specifiic learning disability itself, there's surprisingly little targeted research into why it happens or how it can be helped. That's why the paper Increase Speed of Processing with Video Games caught our attention.

It's from the Bavelier lab and they found that action video game play was associated with quicker reaction times, better sustained attention (TOVA), without sacrificing accuracy (they busted the myth that gamers are trigger happy or impulsive). Training on video games improved speed of processing for both gamers and non gamers, and some generalization of the effect was suggested.

The research raises some interesting thoughts. Now, many students diagnosed with ADD already love video gaming - so their problem may not be poor sustained visual attention (it's may already be good for computer activities), but rather that they can't easily attend to less visually stimulating or exciting classroom work.

But the findings do make us think that some kids - perhaps some of those with reduced visual spans and / or prominent sensory processing challenges  may get some benefit from videogames. As it turns out, those kids often don't like games (over movies for that matter).  Maybe what would help is some play with the old games - like Space Invaders or Galaxians. These games still require visual scanning, decision making and motor timing, bilateral hand coordination, and simple repetitive motor output, but are not so fast or as unpredictable as current releases.

Don't expect these games to totally revamp their cognition, but if processing speed can be boost a bit, perhaps it will lighten up the demand on working memory (short term memory that keeps relevant facts in mind), and may be it might help free up additional resources for higher order brain work.

snail picture

White Noise Helps Memory Recall of ADHD / Reading-Impaired Students

In this interesting study, researchers Sweden discovered that providing white noise to ADHD students improved sentence memory recall in classrooms.

The researchers noted: "Why these paradoxical effects should occur is not well understood."

Well, we think one possible explanation is that the students diagnosed with ADHD were more susceptible to auditory distractions - so the white noise blotted out oddball or occasional distracting sounds, causing a net result of better memory performance with sentence recall. But for the non-inattentive kids, the white noise served only as a distraction - so the net result was poorer performance.

Another potential confounder in this study is the  likelihood of what the researchers were diagnosing was dyslexia with inattentive features, rather than ADHD alone. As the researchers describe in the  full report, the inattentive group had lower reading scores and an inverse relationship was noted between reading performance and positive response to white noise. The presence of hyperactivity had no correlation with the benefit or detriment of white noise.

In previous research it has been shown that dyslexic individuals are as a group more sensitive to auditory distractions - that is why the diagnosis of dyslexia is one indication for small group or individual testing on standardized tests.

Wide and diffuse perceptual modes characterize dyslexics in vision and audition

*** BTW, for Seattle readers, Brock and I will be speaking and the SPD Foundations' International Symposium in Seattle this Friday. We'll be speaking about common learning consequences of sensory processing disorders on the pre-conference day. Look forward to seeing some of you there! 

Engaged! - Why Many Learn Well with One-on-One Learning

Some people really thrive with one-on-one learning. It makes a difference. If they're in a class, no matter what class, or listening to a recorded lecture, or  doing an interactive computer-based learning program, it's not as engaging as learning in a one-on-one situation. The funny thing is, even some introverts thrive with one-on-one learning and much prefer learning from 1 live person in front of them than a book or a computer program. This study was looking and the different brain effects of a live vs. recorded experience with another person, and scientists were somewhat surprised about how much of a difference it made.

One-on-one live interactions stimulate many areas of the brain - including reward centers that increase general alertness and attentiveness. In the bottom right, see how much activation is in the anterior cingulate - that orange blog connecting both hemispheres. That's just the spot (see below) that kids with ADHD had trouble activating - and there is a suggestion that individuals with ADHD are more reward-sensitive for particular tasks.

When we see students with severe weaknesses in working memory, often we find that optimizing their reward systems may be essential to getting the most out of their education. Rewards are not gold stars or money (although it may be money) - they may also be social or experiential - like emphasizing humor or novelty.

This research may not come as a surprise to some homeschooling parents - because they have seen their child dissipate into a distracted, inattentive, and unengaged student once they walk into the school corridors, but know they will be revived working one-on-one with a tutor they really like or even with mom or dad at the kitchen table.

Some of the key to the role of the anterior cingulate is that this brain region is important for mood, emotions, and personal or episodic memory. Among our dyslexic students, we often see a very strong preference for personal learning - that's why many may later chose to enter the caring professions, business, or jobs that involve fieldwork.