Lesson 2: Thinking and Memory

To summarize:

• First memories usually begin about ages four or five when the child has developed a language that helps to record memories.

• The brain is a very complex organ that is changed by learning experiences unique to each individual.

• The brain analyzes information as it is presented, but it also creates novel ideas of its own.

• The brain has two hemispheres, left and right, each with its own special abilities.

• Some experiences are linked to the right brain: looking at the whole picture, intuition, feelings, creativity, visual awareness, and random processing of data.

• Some experiences are linked to the left brain: language, logical thought, verbal expression, and orderly and sequential processing of data.

• Language uses symbols to convey meaning in the communication process.

• Thinking is an essential implicit behaviour that organizes our reality and plans our activities.

• Memory is grouped into three major types: sensory, motor-skill, and verbal.

• Our verbal memory system has two forms: short term, which is the initial and somewhat brief contact with the material, and long term, which is the data stored more permanently.

• Reasoning is the process of forming judgments or conclusions from the data we have.

• In inductive reasoning, the person begins with many specific examples and reaches general conclusion.

• In deductive reasoning, the person begins with a basic rule or principle and tests it with specific cases.

• Critical thinking is not necessarily a set of skills, but it is an attitude or desire to determine the worthiness of an idea or concept.

• Critical thinking occurs in stages: (1) a problem is established, (2) it is studied regarding various possibilities, (3) a hypothesis about a correct solution is stated, tested, and verified.

• Forgetting occurs when we have not adequately and thoroughly learned material in initial stages.

• Forgetting is also possible with retroactive inhibition and proactive inhibition.

• We may be “motivated” to forget difficult tasks that are not completed, but we are strongly motivated to finish incomplete tasks we know we can handle.

• Dyslexia is not a thinking problem, but it is a reading disability that manifests itself in visual and auditory functioning.

• Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is not a problem with understanding material as much as an inability to sustain concentration on a task for any extended time.

• Autism is a neurological disorder hindering communication and social interaction with others.

• Because autistic people have difficulty processing information about the outside world, they retreat to an inner world of their own where they may engage in repetitive behaviours— rocking the body, staring at objects, and following set routines.

• Colours affect our emotional states and have an impact on our behaviours as well.