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Many of us grew up thinking about the senses (eyes, ears, nose, skin, and mouth) as the information/signal gatherers, the brain as the control center and the nervous system as the pathways that attach the brain to the muscles and internal organs. Although we now know that this simplistic view of how information is shared within the body is not exactly correct, for the sake of this discussion, we will use this classis paradigm as the basis of our discussion (Figure 1).
In part I of this blog I laid the foundation for my claim that the Military needs to fully understand the recent upgrades to cognitive load theory (CLT) or risk wasting money, time and the performance improvements promised by new military technology. We followed the development of the theory from its genesis by John Sweller (1988) through 2012 when upgrades, based on research in the field of evolutionary educational psychology (Geary, 2008; Paas & Sweller, 2012) suggested that different kinds of information (social and cultural) are handled differently in working memory. Finally, we introduced new research that found that cognitive load could be actively controlled through the addition of specific visual stimuli that takes advantage of the brain’s bias towards socially-relevant information (Bevilacqua, Paas & Krigbaum, 2016: Bevilacqua 2017). It was also found that this bias works differently for males and females (Bevilacqua, 2017; Castro-Alonzo, et al., 2019). Continue reading “PART II: The Impact of Important New Upgrades to Cognitive Load Theory on The Performance of Warriors Using Hi-Tech Systems”
When John Sweller wrote his seminal paper on Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) in 1988 (Sweller, 1988) he was primarily interested in the differences in how experts and novices approached problem solving for learning and education. As the community of interest grew, researchers realized that how the information was presented to a learner (problem-solver) could help to guide problem solving and therefore improve learning and retention. This research occurred at a time when the age of digital communications and computer usage was exploding across the globe. During this time Researchers such as Richard Mayer (Mayer & Moreno, 2003) attempted to develop heuristics that would help people optimize the display of digital information for learners. Still others (Lavie, 2010; Lavie, Hirst, de Fockert, & Viding, 2004) started looking at the other side of the equation, i.e., human attention and understanding, to try to understand how that attribute of the human eye-brain system could best be guided to make more efficient use of the displayed information (Figure 1). That research determined that to focus attention on the desired information, the distracting effects of all other information must be reduced or removed. This led to more research in ways to optimize low cognitive load learning and work environments. Continue reading “PART I: The Impact of Important New Upgrades to Cognitive Load Theory on The Performance of Warriors Using Hi-Tech Systems”
This series of posts attempts to explain everything you want to know in simple terms using part of a well-known verse from the Rubiayat of Omar Khayyam as a mental anchor (i.e., A jug of wine, a loaf of bread and Thou). The idea of using a mental anchor helps you to anchor this new information in your long-term memory by purposely connecting it to a schema (stored memory map) that you already have stored there. In the first two posts I used wine as the first anchor to explain that the brain’s constant evolutionary-driven need to protect you forms the basis of almost all of your behaviors…why you do what you do. In part two I put on my Physics hat and explained how we exist in both the time domain and the timeless domain simultaneously using the analog of a loaf of bread. This explains “where” we do what we do. Part three of this series will attempt to explain “Thou” i.e. , who are we”. Having the answers to these three important questions, Why do we do what we do, Where do we do what we do, and who are we, I will offer an answer that summarizes everything in simple terms. Continue reading “A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread, and Thou. Three theories that explain almost everything we want to know in simple terms: PART 3, Thou – Who art Thou?”
In my previous writing (Part 1) I used a jug of wine as a symbol to explain why I believe we spend so much time dulling our senses with chemicals and activities that cater to the brain’s incessant need to process information around us to assure our survival. That post came from my musings in psychology. In this part (Part 2), taken from a paper I wrote on a unified theory of consciousness (in one of my weaker philosophical moments) I put on my physicists hat explain our relationship to time. Hopefully after Part 3 I can time all of this together into a unified theory that will explain everything about everything. Continue reading “A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread, and Thou. Three theories that explain almost everything we want to know in simple terms: PART 2, A Loaf of Bread”
A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread–and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness–
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam has long been one of my favorite poems and this well-known verse, taken from that poem, has always held special meaning for me. As I lay awake the other night thinking about nothing and everything it suddenly came to me that the poet long ago had a firm grip on the answers to some of the most pressing questions that we, as humans constantly ask. Using the poet’s jug of wine, loaf of bread and Thou as visual anchors, I will present theories in simple terms that explain three important concepts, that when combined form a universal theory of human behavior. Continue reading “A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread, and Thou. Three theories that explain almost everything we want to know in simple terms: PART 1, A Jug of Wine….why we do everything we do”