lecture

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

2. Your Brain Frontal Lobe : Abstract Reasoning Conceptual Memory Long-range planning Personality Social Behavior Parietal Lobe: Sensory Perception Spatial perception Amygdala Emotional reactions Fight-Flight Response

3. Learning Physically Changes The Brain … And sever old ones Neurons make new connections

4. ... when students interact with the world and synthesize information obtained by their senses, neurons receive input from each other and are altered , creating new electrical patterns between networks of neurons . 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 research confirms that humans exposed to more enriched environments have larger , heavier brains with increased branching and connecting of neurons.

5. Things that Stimulate New Neuronal Connections Enriched Environments : Novelty: Mu lti ple Mod alit ies : High Motivation & Focused Attention Significant Emotional Reaction But not too much emotion !!!

6. Perception of Reality Perception is Variable : Position, Perspective, Attention, Filters and Framing all affect your perception . Perception is Unreliable : Scientists rely upon objective standards and mathematics to test a hypothesis . Perception is driven by the Mind as much as by the Senses : You see in part what you expect. You don’t hear much of what you dislike. FRAMING by others and your own WORLDVIEW create bias - a distortion of your perceptions .

7. Perceptions can be manipulated

8. Perceptions can be manipulated "Decisive" " Leftist " Fascist ! Commie ! "Patriotic" "Disaster" Evil “ Right-Wing” "Greatest" New and Improved Crook Un-American Unfair!

9. WORLDVIEWS...

11. Worldviews are shaped by the culture around you

12. Can Worldviews change ?

13. YES ! Worldviews can change. 1. Cultural Evolution: 2. O.O.D.A. Feedback Loop 3. Paradigm Shift: Every society changes values and customs slowly over a long period of time. Individuals and organizations react to their environment when they O BSERVE , O RIENT , D ECIDE and A CT . 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

14. 17th Century 18th Century 21st Century Human culture evolves in response to changes in the environment -be it social, economic, technological or physical changes. 1492 1776 2006

16. Paradigm : A dominant pattern of thought or model in a particular field (ex. Physics, Government, Art, Law etc.) Worldviews are generally larger concepts that contain multiple paradigms but some people use the two terms interchangeably Paradigm Shift

17. VS. Aristotle Plato Ideas are Reality Objects are Illusions Two Worlds Order Fate Absolute values Opposing Worldviews Physical World is Reality Objects are Real One World Freedom Choice Relative values Spiritual-Utopian Scientific-Realist Moralist Logical