February 9, 2001

Psychology 115W

Professor Lappin

The Contributing Factors of Knowledge

Just last week, while tutoring at an inner-city middle school, I was faced with a 16-year-old girl who did not know how to read. As we struggled through a sentence, word-by-word, letter-by-letter, we came across the word "ugly." For the next ten minutes, we went over the concept of a "y" sounding like a long "e" when placed at the end of a word. However, it was clear that she did not comprehend the material. Finally, I asked her about a popular rap artist, "Nelly." She knew of him and knew how to spell his name based on what she had seen on the CD. By showing her that "Nelly" contained a "y" that sounded like an "e," she immediately understood, and was then able to grasp the concept in many other words.

In this particular case, there was a barrier preventing the girl from understanding, or acquiring the knowledge. Because it was like nothing she had seen or heard of before, the concept seemed abstract and confusing. But once she was able to relate it to a previously acquired knowledge, the concept was easy to understand. She was able to make this "abstract" concept somewhat concrete. As a tutor, it is sometimes difficult to make this link between a student’s experiences and this abstract knowledge. And the reason why it seems more difficult for inner-city students to make the connection than for example, suburban students, is unknown. Perhaps it is because the inner-city students do not have the variety of experiences that other children are exposed to, or perhaps it is a genetic influence. One cannot truly be sure of the cause of this dissimilarity. However, we know that the ability to make the link is critical and essential to the acquisition of knowledge, or learning.

Bronowski suggests that our attention and consciousness are also a result of this "link." If we have learned about something or have had previous experience with a subject, we are more likely to pay attention to that subject. In another sense, we are also more likely to notice something that sparks an area of our knowledge. For example, we would not normally notice a particular architectural style of a building unless we have studied architecture in some depth (from class). And, we are more likely to pay attention to something that stimulates our interests. Through this observation, we can say that our experience gives light to our knowledge.

As in the example above, our previous knowledge clearly affects our attention, but we can conversely say that our attention affects our acquisition of knowledge. Our capacity to focus on a certain subject for an extended period of time makes it possible to obtain the information, or learn. But there are people that do not have this basic ability. Tutoring has exposed me to many forms of attention disorders, most commonly ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder). These disorders can be tested for medically and scientifically, and treatments are becoming increasingly available, however their effectiveness is questionable.

Today I worked with a boy who showed strong evidence of having ADD. As an eighth-grader, he still struggled with basic addition. I would ask him, "What is 4 + 5?" He would start to think about the question, and while formulating an answer mathematically, he would forget the question. He would suddenly lose his focus and ask, "What was the question?" He showed his capability of mathematically computing the answers throughout the day, but only when he was able to do so in a relatively short time span. When the questions required lengthy thought, he almost always forgot the original question. His inability to focus for a given time posed as a very evident barrier to his learning. And this particular lack of attention was not due to his lack of experience in the topic, but rather a biological or medical condition. Regardless of whether or not the topics applied to his life or stimulated his interest, his ability to maintain attention on one specific thing was very poor. He was constantly looking around the room, distracted by the slightest noise or conversation. Because of his ADD, he was very behind for his age. He struggled in eighth grade with what first graders easily learn. Unfortunately, this lack of attention led to his lack of knowledge.

Besides noticing variations in levels of education between people, I also noticed a difference in language comprehension and therefore language use. In the case of the girl learning to read, the thought of "symbols," or letters, having other meanings or sounds was a difficult concept. Our human ability to distinguish these meanings separates us from animal species. The girl, although uneducated, showed that she clearly understood that symbols had other meanings simply by her ability to speak a language. Bronowski states that, "we are in the presence not of a language but of a code of signals" (28, Origins). He is saying that our language is simply signals, or symbols, that have meanings or implications. To be able to use this advanced language in itself shows the understanding of these symbols.

Although different species have differing abilities of comprehending language, there are differences within species. Human beings clearly have varying levels of comprehension, or levels of intelligence. Again, this distinction has been evident in my tutoring. The language of the inner-city students is very unlike that which is heard on Vanderbilt’s campus. Even though both forms are English, I had to adjust for a few days before I actually understood what some of the children were saying. After an entire semester, I still sometimes struggle to recognize what they are trying to articulate. Their language, heavily coated with slang and an "accent" or "dialect," is a result of their surroundings. The children’s perception of their environment results in this form of speaking. Even within the same species, the same language, and the same geographical location, there are departures from the way we perceive our language and what it symbolizes.

One can come to the conclusion that previous experience, knowledge, attention or consciousness, and perception are all interdependent. In the course of my tutoring, examples of how these are all related to one another were evident because of the variations of each of these factors in different students. Through the girl learning to read by using a popular name she knew, we see that our previous experience or knowledge impacts our acquisition of knowledge. And through the boy afflicted with Attention Deficit Disorder, we can see how attention also affects our learning. The knowledge that we attain comes from many factors, as well as our efforts to overcome these factors. Bronowski states, "you cannot know what is true unless you behave in certain ways" (129, Origins). The action of acquiring knowledge is a result of our ability to manipulate these aspects.