Today, few of us think about the impact of computers or the media on human consciousness. Surely somewhere, once, many of us heard about such a concept as “cognitive educational technologies”. Someone may even say what it is. But the absolute majority has no idea what the essence of this concept is.
What is cognitive technology: general concepts
In general, you do not need to be afraid of this term. He is purely scientific and, so to speak, fictitious. In fact, the same cognitive-communicative technology, as well as all other areas in this field, can be considered from the point of view of the Latin term “cognitio”, which means the functioning of human cognition, more precisely, the ability to understand the current process. But the human brain plays a secondary role here, since the subconscious is the dominant.
In other words, even information-cognitive technologies are essentially aimed at giving a person some knowledge of a certain level, perhaps even at a subconscious level, and pushing him to perform certain actions. It is not surprising that everyone and everyone is trying to influence the consciousness of the modern individual. Remember at least the forbidden effect of the 25th frame.
However, this also has its advantages, especially if we take into account the educational processes associated with the assimilation of complex material taught by a particular teacher.
History of occurrence
First, let's turn to history. This formulation was first proposed by E. C. Tolman in 1948 and continued in pedagogical studies by J. S. Bruner, R. C. Atkinson, G. E. Gardner, M. S. Schechter and many other scientists.
It was these luminaries of educational science that became at the head of what is now commonly called the "era of cognitive technology." In fact, they proposed a kind of general educational model for subjects of all levels of thinking, which could be perceived by them regardless of the level of development of consciousness. The idea, of course, is interesting, but from the point of view of psychology this can cause legitimate doubts. Nonetheless…
The main types of exposure to the subject
Today, when computers and online media have come into our lives very tightly, we can talk about at least three main types of development of such commutative systems:
- cognitive drugs;
- the so-called cognitive assistants;
- virtual interfaces that communicate on the type of "man - computer".
In the first case, we are talking about nothing more than stimulants that can increase the body’s working capacity, improve well-being, give physical strength, etc. The most striking representative of this trend can be called the same vitamin B12 (which, by the way, is doping and banned by athletes). To some extent, this can be attributed to what is called bio-, nano-cognitive technology.
The second option is adaptive support systems. The easiest way to explain this is the example of an autopilot in a modern air liner or in the same computer simulator. The pilot is not immune to emotional feelings. When the autopilot is turned on, all the functions are performed by the computer.
The same goes for the latest automotive systems that can recognize if a person is driving while drunk. How to behave, the machine itself chooses. In most cases, the on-board computer simply blocks the control system.
The third case is wider. Cognitive technologies of this type involve initial training, if you want, computer development at a primitive (subconscious) level. It is not surprising that grandmothers can easily cope with work at such terminals, even if before that they had no idea what it was at all.
How is this all perceived?
Cognitive technologies themselves are aimed at understanding how a person perceives the information received (most often just a suggestion).
For example, recent presentations of the latest MSI GT72S G Tobii laptops that allow you to control characters in computer games have shown that they have special sensors that monitor the pupils of the user's eyes. It turns out that the player at the time of some action can simply look away, and his character in the game will move there.
But this is only a direct process. And who thought about the opposite? In fact, computer terminals are also able to influence the human subconscious. Not everyone knows this, but the same stationary units (especially when the fan is turned on) direct low-frequency infrared radiation towards the user. Naturally, we do not perceive it with our senses, but the feeling of wariness, fear or something else remains. Laptops are easier. In them, the noise level is minimized.
Cognitive Technology in Education
But these are all common examples. Now a few words about how cognitive technologies are used in education.
With their appearance, the student became not the subject of instruction, to which the teacher hammers one or another subject into the head, but a participant in the whole process. The student-teacher relationship goes to a new level.
However, in this situation, the so-called cognitive schemes are used. This may be the experience laid before this, presented or distorted information. In general, a certain template, on the basis of which the training of the active subject is conducted, without fail becoming a participant in the process.
Structure and methodology
As follows from the recent European priorities in the field of education, preference should be given to creating an endogenous society that promotes the development of cognitive technologies. But just not everyone clearly understands what it is. Well, you see, the concept of "endogenous society", what is it?
And this, roughly speaking, is our dependence on computers, which involves making new discoveries and perceptions of reality on their basis. Remember SkyNet from the movie Terminator or The Matrix?
The structure of the impact on the student’s brain is quite complex, but at the same time simple.
The brain collects external information whether you want it or not. Your eyes see, ears hear, fingers and skin feel. For example, the main task that cognitive educational technologies face, is to direct this perception in the right direction.
In other words, even a hard-to-learn individual, taking into account his personal inclinations or habits, can be forced to assimilate the taught material not as “cramming”, but so that it is fixed somewhere there, deep in the subconscious. You must admit that the Soviet system with the obligatory study of the same multiplication table proved to be very effective. But we don’t go after a calculator to multiply, for example, 3 by 9. Hence the simplest conclusion: you can multiply everything if you know the rules. And the equipment is not needed at all.
Principles of Learning
As much as anyone wants, the era of cognitive technology has come. Education is reduced to the methodology of perceiving useful information not even by one individual, but by a whole society, built on the basis of the behavioral model of one or more people, taking into account the level of their education and the degree of perception of incoming information.
For interest, let's take two examples. Let's look at two separate students, one of whom is offered the role of a murderer, and the second - the victims (conditionally, of course). Let's try to understand the killer’s motives, even if he himself explains them.
Then the students change places. This is where the difficulties begin. A person based on just experienced events is subject to precisely their influence. And cognitive technologies allow him to be convinced of the incorrectness of revengeful actions by his opponent. This is perceptual-cognitive technology, which suggests such a development and outcome of events. It is believed that, having been in the shoes of a wolf or a victim, a person will begin to perceive reality in a different way. Maybe this is correct, but it does not always work.
Another example: human-computer interaction. Who do you think dictates to whom the conditions? Unfortunately, most users note that it is the computer system that sets the conditions. Look even on Windows 7 and higher! Why does the system require running the program on behalf of the Administrator? You yourself are the admin. Why is there a super administrator forbidding you to execute this or that process? And this is not an isolated example.
On the other hand, from the point of view of the user's training, he himself can dictate the conditions to the computer, disabling unnecessary functions. How this will be done is another matter. But the essence of this does not change: this can be done in an elementary way.
Instead of an afterword
And God forbid that such technologies were used not for the good of man. If you watch some movies in the genre of fiction, when people implant the chips responsible for their behavior (moreover, controlled), it somehow becomes uncomfortable. It is better to use learning algorithms for those who cannot learn the teaching material from the first time.
In this case, cognitive technologies will be reduced only to improving the mental development of the individual, which, in fact, is supposed from the beginning. In addition, it is not development that comes to the fore, but the ability to perceive information of a certain complexity, then analyze it and draw an appropriate conclusion in favor of making this or that decision.
Moreover, it is assumed that a person will be able to easily outline texts or oral presentations of any level of complexity, be able to make abstracts, identify the main thoughts of the work, make his own judgments based on the material taught, etc.