Perception, Cognition and Perception, Cognition and WorldviewsWorldviews

...Or, everything you ever needed to know about Reality, your ...Or, everything you ever needed to know about Reality, your Brain and Learning but were afraid to ask.Brain and Learning but were afraid to ask.

Frontal Lobe:

Abstract Reasoning

Conceptual Memory

Long-range planning

Personality

Social Behavior

Parietal Lobe: Sensory Perception

Spatial perception

Amygdala

Emotional reactions

Fight-Flight Response

……And sever old onesAnd sever old ones

......when students interact with the worldwhen students interact with the world and synthesize information obtained by their senses, neurons receive input from each other and are altered, creating new creating new electrical patterns between networks of electrical patterns between networks of neuronsneurons. During learning, changes may occur in the way neurons communicate with each other; in the efficiency of connections between neurons; in the number of neurons involved in the network; in the amount of energy required for communication to be initiated; and in how often communication occurs.

New neural connections are formed constantly, while others are either strengthened or eliminated. A large body of A large body of research confirms that humans exposed to research confirms that humans exposed to more enriched environments have largermore enriched environments have larger, heavier brainsheavier brains with increased branching and connecting of neurons.

Enriched Environments:

Novelty:Novelty:

MuMultiltipleple Modalitalitiesies:

High Motivation & Focused Attention

Significant Emotional Reaction

But not too much emotion !!!

Perception is VariablePerception is Variable: Position, Perspective, Attention, Filters and Framing all affect your

perception.

Perception is UnreliablePerception is Unreliable: Scientists rely upon objective standards and

mathematics to test a hypothesis.

Perception is driven by the Perception is driven by the MindMind as as much as by the much as by the SensesSenses: You see in part what you expect. You don’t hear much of what you dislike.

FRAMINGFRAMING by others and your own by others and your own WORLDVIEW WORLDVIEW create bias create bias - a distortion of your perceptions- a distortion of your perceptions.

““Right-Wing”Right-Wing”

What is a “Worldview” anyway?What is a “Worldview” anyway?A worldview supplies a particular community with the following:

Basic assumptions about what is real and what is unreal, true and false;

Values - moral and ethical standards

Historical and cultural examples including myths, legends, rituals, traditions

Rule sets to guide behavior and punish wrongdoers

Worldviews are shaped by the culture around youWorldviews are shaped by the culture around you

Every society changes values and customs slowly over a long period of time.

Individuals and organizations react to their environment when they OOBSERVE, OORIENT, DDECIDE and AACT. This creates a steady flow of small changes in a worldview.

Cataclysmic events or earth shaking discoveries can rapidly and dramatically change people’s worldviews -ex. Pearl Harbor

Human culture evolves in response to changes in the Human culture evolves in response to changes in the environment -be it social, economic, technological or environment -be it social, economic, technological or physical changes.physical changes.

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ParadigmParadigm: A dominant pattern of thought or model in a particular field (ex. Physics, Government, Art, Law etc.)

WorldviewsWorldviews are generally larger concepts that contain multiple paradigms but some people use the two terms interchangeably

VS.

Ideas are Reality

Objects are Illusions

Two Worlds

Order

Fate

Absolute values

Physical World is Reality

Objects are Real

One World

Freedom

Choice

Relative values

Spiritual-Utopian Scientific-Realist

Moralist Logical