Psy 115W: Human Knowledge Acquisition

Dr. Lappin

Paper 3

There have been great advances made in the study of the human brain and our knowledge of its function has increased dramatically within the last decade. We now understand that, although the brain’s neural framework is laid out by nature, early experiences play a major role in the brain's developmental process. Inherently, human learning is a paradox: our ability to learn is a learned ability. By better understanding the processes that develop a child’s brain, we can obtain ways that best encourage paramount development. Perhaps the foremost responsibility of parents and teachers is to provide environments that best guide the cognitive learning process for children as opposed to simply transferring their knowledge. It is concurrently evident that children must be given the best opportunities to learn for themselves and experience firsthand; we must hence simply teach our children the basic learning tool: focus.

"Memory is neither a single entity nor a phenomenon that occurs in a single part of the brain." There exist two types of memory: declarative memory for remembering facts and events and non-declarative memory for remembering skills, each of which are obtained through exposure and/or experience (How People learn, 124). Hence, learning and memory are interdependent functions by which our brains acquire and store new data in a way that makes it retrievable for later use. The storage occurs as a pattern of connections among neurons, the nerve cells that serve as the brain's basic building blocks. In fact, a person's cognitive, physical and emotional capabilities are closely related and share many of the same neurons. Many neurons work in cooperation to carry out one task, which may include one, two, or all three of these capabilities. And because learning is the single most critical tool that aids our survival, understanding its intricacies is key to our success.

An efficiently functioning brain begins the process of learning a new complex task by subconsciously breaking it down into simple subcomponents that are easier to learn and store. This process can best be seen in language acquisition, where simple phonemes (the basic sounds letters make that when put together make words) are learned in order to acquire a language. The resulting subtasks must then be learned in a sequential order. In using the example of language acquisition, this process follows as learning to sound out complete words, then the use of words, and finally use of words in context. A number of areas of the brain become quite interactive while the task is learned. Such areas include the part of the brain responsible for motor skills of the mouth involved in sounding out words and the part of the brain involved in instantaneous recollection of the phonemes. Here a person’s cognitive and physical capabilities are required and a network of neurons must connect the parts of the brain responsible for both abilities. Multi-sensory feedback signals are simultaneously sent back and forth between the brain, senses, and the parts of the body affected by the stimuli (James C. Houk, Learning & Memory 1997).

All information critical to each subtask in the sequence is stored among the brain’s neurons in the form of unique connections (James C. Houk, Learning & Memory 1997). This stored information includes content and action related messages that must be sent to all body and brain parts involved in each subtask. Timing information, critical to the reproduction of each subtask and to connecting together the sequence of events, is also stored. This timing is an inherent ability not yet fully understood.

As subtasks of the sequence are memorized, fewer and fewer two-way feedback signals are sent between the brain and body in an occurrence we know as subconscious activity. Consequently, fewer parts of the brain are activated in order to accomplish each particular subtask. And eventually each of the component subtasks becomes fully automated. Thus, the human brain under normal conditions has the ability to subconsciously break down, place in sequential order, and store all data pertinent to complex tasks that a person actively decides to learn. This process may best be exemplified in learning and mastering a language. We first memorize phonemes that make up words and then the process by which we place them in a string to create words. We do not pay much attention to our speech because these subtasks have been memorized and practiced so often that very few two-way signals are used in the process.

Then, to automatically carry out that complex task in the future, the brain will instantaneously select and sequence each of the stored subtasks that make up the task as a whole. To carry out these actions, the brain will utilize accurate timing information also stored with each subtask to flawlessly string them together in a way to accurately replicate the original task. It is this unique ability to automate neural activity that dramatically increases the human brain's overall capabilities and allows us to learn complex mental and physical tasks that would otherwise be impossible. This highly efficient process also frees up the many parts of the brain otherwise required to carry out the task so that they are continually available to creatively determine future activity, create more thought, or perhaps even carryout numerous physical tasks at once.

Human speech also exemplifies the efficiency in stringing together subtasks. It is clear that we are able to put phonemes together to create words as well as have thought about the nature of our conversation. We may in fact plan what we are to say next while we are engaged in speaking. This efficiency comes with mastering a language and is not possible for an infant who must actively engage in all of the speech subtasks. Also, our sentence structure and accent are key determinations of timing in speech subtasks. We subconsciously place certain stress on parts of words or sentences to create different forms of sentences. Certainly interrogative sentences require stressed syllables in different parts than do declarative sentences. And because we learn speech from others whom we hear speaking around us, we memorize timing patterns that they use, which bring us to a developed accent. Consequently, it is difficult for an adult who has a thoroughly developed speech pattern to adapt to a new accent, but it is rather simple for a child to adapt because their speech has not yet fully developed. In fact, someone with a deep southern accent will subconsciously speak with their "twang" among a group of people with a New York accent and will only take notice of the northern accent which is actively being examined by his or her brain while his or her twang goes unnoticed.

Although we may pay little attention to acquisition of our native language, it follows all of the steps described. The process of speech is complicated, yet we do it so "naturally"; how could it be? Each phoneme we learn, "builds" into our memory as well as the process of its use and consequently the context of its use. We learn many different ways of saying the same word, each differing slightly by certain stress placed on a particular part of the word. The same can be seen in grammar and sentence structure; we use certain stress along each sentence. And because we learn so many ways of saying the same thing, we memorize

Even if a group of people may experience more or less similar lives, they will develop differently in their automated neural activity, because the degree of accuracy and efficiency in the overall sequencing of subtasks varies dramatically among individuals. And although those with normal brain functionality may develop the same capabilities (such as the ability to speak, read, or run) there exists a gap between those who excel at the activity and those who struggle with it. To discover why some genetically normal brains are able to learn more efficiently than others, we need only ask the simple question: "What single learning related attribute do the world’s greatest scientists, athletes, and musicians have in common?" The answer to this question is highly debated. However, it is easy to see that the majority of highly successful individuals in a given field tend to have superior focus to those who are not so successful. Focus, here, indicates the ability to selectively concentrate for extended periods without interruption. But because it is believed that focus and concentration are basic human abilities that all fully functioning people possess, little effort has been made to understand what it exactly is, or to find ways to cultivate it in children.

Concentration interruptions, or breaks in thought during the conscious learning process, separate the occurrence of subtasks with gaps and disrupt the delicate timing of their sequential order. These breaks also generate timing and content information related to whatever stimuli or thought which brought about the interruption, rather than the task being learning. The resulting erroneous information is stored along with the correct timing information that is directly related to the task being learned. This erroneous and/or conflicting information prevents the sequence from being correctly reassembled by the brain in the recall process from memory in the future. As a result, the original task cannot be duplicated as well as in the case of those with better focus.

Ultimately, the more the habitual concentration interruptions that occur when a person is trying to learn a new task, the more timing and content errors that are generated and stored during the learning process. The brain can and often does correct such stored errors, but to do so the task must be relearned through multiple repetitions. Each time the brain takes note of changes in the process and over time recalls the overall process as the best average of all other times preceding it. Therefore, the more concentration breaks, the more errors, and the longer it takes to learn any new complex task. This is regardless of whether the new tasks are cognitive (such as learning mathematics problems), physical (such as athletic maneuvers), or emotional (such as in becoming a better parent or sibling) based.

Concentration during the human learning process allows our relatively limited conscious minds to tap into our unconscious, autonomic potential including our inherently precise timing capabilities. Therefore, the unique ability to filter out the unnecessary information and thoughts that continually bombard our conscious concentration is the true foundation of human learning and memory. Some otherwise genetically normal human brains obviously have the ability to concentrate much more efficiently than others. Therefore, the human brain's ability to automatically filter out unnecessary information and unrelated thoughts during the conscious concentration process must be a learned ability to some extent.

Our automatic filtering ability is so fundamental to conscious learning that it has to be learned very early in each person’s neural development. Hence, those close to us must play important roles in preventing the development of bad habits that play a detrimental role in our development. In fact many argue that infants are not born with a blank slate (How People Learn, 79), and that from the moment of birth an infants brain begins to develop. And according to the theories of First and Second Bio-Social-Behavioral Shift, which outline the chronic change of cognitive, physical, and emotional development of humans, the process of birth may be the first "human world" experience for any person (Packer, Martin, Duquesne University Web Page). Because of this competency to learn at an early age, it is important for education and the learning process to begin early in life.

We have just seen the significance of early childhood education as it applied to the paradox of human learning: learning to learn. It is from this knowledge that we must prompt action. The best solution is ultimately early education. It is by understanding the processes involved in development; we as parents or future parents can best provide an environment conducive to learning for our children. We must also reform teaching styles that do not promote students to think on their own. In this era, where daily advancements are a norm, there is no room for simply teaching children information. It is through experimentation that children can learn how they can best learn. Hence, the advancements in neuroscience should not only be taught to others in the scientific field, but rather they should foremost serve as guides for teachers and parents so that they can best assist their children’s or students’ learning process.

Bransford, John. How People Learn. Expanded ed. National Academy Press, 2000.

Houk, James C., Learning & Memory: "Cerebellar guidance of premotor network development and sensorimotor learning"; 1997 May-Jun. 4: 63-76; Department of Physiology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois

Packer, Martin. DuquesneUniversity. http://www.mathcs.duq.edu/~packer/Psy225/MP1.htm