Note: baumhaus presentations in different sessions are synchronized with my actions, i.e. when I change a folio in my browser, it will automagically change a folio in Your browser as well, click on "Session 2" and experience it for Yourself
(or install matrix client apps like Element or Fluffychat and put "medienhaus.udk-berlin.de" as homeserver)
Recommended literature
You are cordially invited to read one or more of these book(s):
Howard Gardner :: Frames of Mind / The Theory of Multiple Intelligences
David Goleman :: Emotional Intelligence : Why it can matter more than IQ
Singer et al. :: A Piaget Primer: How a Child Thinks
Murray & Herrnstein :: The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (Achtung! Controversy)
Nick Bostrom :: Superintelligenz
Carlo M. Cipolla: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
Referat(s) welcome, Hausarbeit (5 SWS) possible. Note: Lecture of one of these books is mandatory for all those whose attendance will be between 1/2 and 2/3.
Formalities
who am I
who are You
is this a course for You ?
credits (2 ECTS for >75% attendance, +1 for referat/Congress contribution, +2 Hausarbeit)
Leistungsnachweis
signature-related issues
Feedback box
Congress
Other referat || intervention topics
Greek muses
fostering of intelligence
evaluation of intelligence
Flynn effect
stupidity
udk.ai
Let me know if You would like to host Your AI-related project at sub-domain *.udk.ai (e.g. aoede.udk.ai , turing.udk.ai etc.)
GPT4's answer
Intelligence is a multifaceted concept that's difficult to define comprehensively, but it generally refers to the ability to learn from experience, understand and adapt to new situations, solve problems, and use knowledge to manipulate one’s environment. Here are several facets of intelligence:
Learning and Adaptation
Reasoning & Problem Solving
Memory & Knowledge
Perception
Emotional Intelligence
Creativity
It's important to note that intelligence is still a topic of debate among psychologists and neuroscientists. Traditionally, intelligence was often measured using IQ (intelligence quotient) tests, but many experts now believe that IQ tests capture only a narrow slice of what constitutes human intelligence. Moreover, various cultures might emphasize different abilities or qualities when defining or valuing intelligence, so the concept can be both culturally and contextually relative.
Perception
The Muse of Perception
The process by which information from the environment is received and interpreted. This includes recognizing patterns, faces, and nuances in language or music.
Nociception (Pain): This is the sense of detecting harmful stimuli, signaling potential injury. There are specialized pain receptors throughout the body.
Equilibrioception (Balance): Located in the inner ear, vestibular system helps us maintain our balance and spatial orientation.
Proprioception (Body Position): Also known as the "sense of self," this sense allows us to know where our body parts are in relation to each other, even without looking.
Interoception (Internal Sensations): This refers to the sense of the internal state of the body. It can include sensations of hunger, thirst, and the need for bodily functions.
Stretch Receptors: These are found in muscles and tendons and allow us to sense the stretching of muscles and the position of our limbs.
Chemoreceptors: These detect changes in the chemical composition of the body, such as changes in oxygen or carbon dioxide levels in the blood.
Proprioception exercise
Everyone is asked to find his place within this space, ideally at least 2-3 meters away from Your nearest colleague.
We will now listen to excerpts from Michael Nyman's piece "The Heart asks pleasure first" (Das Piano soundtrack).
After the music starts, You will close Your eyes and start moving Your body parts wherever and however You want.
Try to BE AS MUCH AWARE AND CONSCIOUS of Your body parts and their relation to each other and to the center of Your "self" (if there is any ;)
After the music stops, open Your eyes.
Memory
The Muse of Memory
The ability to store and retrieve information over time. This involves both short-term (working) memory and long-term memory.
Reasoning
The Muse of Reasoning
The capacity to solve problems using logic. This can be deductive reasoning, where conclusions are drawn from given information, or inductive reasoning, where conclusions are drawn from observations.
Learning & Adaptation
The Muse of Learning & Adaptation
The ability to acquire new knowledge and skills and apply them in various contexts. It also refers to the capacity to change one's behavior based on experience.
The accumulation of facts, concepts, and methods. While knowledge itself is not intelligence, intelligence often involves the effective use and application of knowledge.
Problem Solving
Two proposed Muses of Problem Solving. Help me to choose one.
The ability to identify a problem and find a solution, which might involve creativity, critical thinking, and the application of knowledge.
Creativity
The Muse of Creativity
The capacity to come up with novel and useful ideas or solutions to problems. It's related to, but not the same as, intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence
The Muse of Emotional Intelligence
The ability to recognize, understand, manage, and use emotions effectively in oneself and others. This includes empathy, self-awareness, and social skills.
Piaget
Illustration of jean piaget making and his son performing his famous experiment with water conservation in different glasses
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher best known for his pioneering work in the study of child development and his theory of cognitive development. He studied natural sciences at the University of Neuchâtel and later obtained a Ph.D. in zoology. However, his professional trajectory shifted when he began working at the Binet Institute in Paris, where he was tasked with standardizing intelligence tests for children. Through his observations, Piaget became intrigued by the systematic errors made by children, leading him to hypothesize that children think differently than adults. This marked the beginning of his extensive research into the nature and development of human intelligence.
Intelligence as reorganization of experience
"Piaget defined intelligence as an individual's ability to cope with the changing world through continuous organization and reorganization of experience. Reasoning is the essence of intelligence, and it is those reasoning processes which Piaget studied in order to discover how we know." (The Piaget Primer, p. 13)
Assimilation & Accomodation
Assimilation is the process of taking in new information and fitting it into a preconceived notion about objects or the world.
Accomodation means adjusting to new experience or objects by revising the old plan to fit the new information.
Schema
illustration of a cognitive schema
"Schema (pl. schemata) is a simple mental image or pattern of action, a form of organizing information that a person uses to interpret the things she sees, hears, smells and touches." (The Piaget Primer, p. 17)
In modern cognitive sciences, we more often use the term mental|cognitive|internal "representations" (C-representations = comprehension|understanding representations; P-representations = production|action representations)
Adaptation
illustration of adaptation of developing mind to its environment
"Adaptation is a process of seeking an equilibrium between the self and the environment. This equilibrium, or equilibriation as Piaget refers to it, is a balance between the process of assimilation and accomodation." (The Piaget Primer, p.18)
"Over time, as these processes of assimilation and accommodation repeat and compound, they lead to major shifts in understanding—ushering children into a new developmental stage." (GPT4)
Stages of cognitive development
(11 - 16 years) Stage of Formal Operations
Stage of formal operations represents the culmination of a child's cognitive development. In this stage, adolescents develop the ability to think abstractly and reason hypothetically. They are no longer limited to concrete, tangible concepts and can conceptualize ideas and possibilities that extend beyond their immediate experience. This stage is characterized by the emergence of deductive reasoning, where adolescents can develop hypotheses and systematically test them. They start to think about theoretical possibilities and can understand abstract concepts like justice, love, and free will. Their problem-solving abilities become more systematic and logical, including the ability to consider multiple variables and potential outcomes. Adolescents in the formal operational stage also exhibit metacognition – the ability to think about their own thought processes. This self-reflection enables them to analyze their reasoning and the conclusions they reach, enhancing their ability to learn and adapt.
(7 - 11 years) Stage of Concrete Operations
In stage of concrete operations, children begin to think logically about concrete events. They gain a better understanding of the concept of conservation — the idea that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or arrangement. This reflects their growing ability to decenter, or consider multiple aspects of a situation simultaneously. Children in the concrete operational stage also start to understand reversibility, recognizing that objects can be changed and then returned to their original form. They can classify items into different sets and subsets and understand their relationship, an ability known as class inclusion. At this stage, children are better at problem-solving, especially for tangible, real-life problems, but they still struggle with abstract and hypothetical thinking. Their reasoning is very much tied to concrete, physical reality, hence the term 'concrete operations'.
(3-7 years) Preoperational Stage
During Preoperational Stage, children experience rapid language growth, symbol use, and imaginative play, but their thinking remains egocentric and intuitive, not logical. They struggle with understanding different perspectives, often assuming others see, think, and feel the same as they do. This stage also features the development of symbolic function, allowing them to represent objects and events with words or images. However, children in this stage lack the ability to perform operations, which are internalized mental actions that obey logical rules, such as conservation tasks. They tend to focus on one aspect of a situation, a phenomenon known as centration, and struggle with understanding that certain properties of objects remain constant despite changes in their form or appearance.
(0-2 years) Sensory - Motor Stage
In this stage, infants and toddlers learn primarily through sensory experiences and manipulating objects. Their understanding of the world is based on physical interactions and experiences. A key characteristic of this stage is the development of object permanence, the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched. Initially, infants act as if objects removed from their view cease to exist, but by the end of this stage, they start to search for hidden objects, demonstrating their grasp of object permanence. Motor skills also develop significantly during this stage. As infants interact with their environment, they learn to coordinate their sensory experiences (such as seeing and hearing) with physical, motor actions. This stage lays the foundation for further cognitive development, as it helps children understand the world around them through physical interaction and sensory exploration.
(18 months - 2 years) Invention of new means through mental combinations
(18 months - 2 years) Invention of new means through mental combinations
(12 - 18 months) Tertiary circular reactions
(12 - 18 months) Tertiary circular reactions
(8 - 12 months) Coordination of secondary schemata
(8 - 12 months) Coordination of secondary schemata
(4 - 8 months) Secondary circular reactions
(4 - 8 months) Secondary circular reactions
(1 - 4 months) Primary circular reactions
(1 - 4 months) Primary circular reactions
(0 - 1 month) Random and reflex actions
(0 - 1 month) Random and reflex actions
Feuerstein
illustration on black background of reuven feurstein helping a traumatized child to expand its cognitive potential
Reuven Feuerstein (1921-2014) was an Israeli psychologist renowned for his theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability (SCM) and the concept of Mediated Learning Experience (MLE). Born in Romania, Feuerstein's work was significantly influenced by his experiences during World War II, assisting child survivors of the Holocaust. His main belief was that intelligence is not a static trait but can be modified under the right educational interventions.
Did Feuerstein meet Piaget ? Compare what GPT4 says with what wikipedia says ...
Instrumental Enhancement
Instrumental Enrichment (IE): An instructional method developed by Feuerstein, IE aims to enrich an individual's learning and thinking strategies through a series of paper-and-pencil tasks.
The goal is not merely to teach specific content but to improve cognitive functioning. Id est, to en(rich|ha(nce)) Your intellige\2.
FIE 1 overview
1. Organization of Dots
2. Analytic Perception
3. Orientation in Space
4. Comparative Behavior
5. Family Relations
6. Temporal Relations
7. Categorization
8. Instructions
Instrument 1 :: Connecting points
You will now get sheet 1 of the first IE instrument "Connecting dots"
connect the dots so You obtain the requested geometric patterns (e.g. square and triangle)
observe Your cognitive processes (if anything interesting "happens", note it on a piece of paper for further discussion)
do not hurry, You have all the time You need.
Breath slowly and deply
Word of warning : You now enter the path of intelligence enrichment. While some teachers say that the path of intelligence is the path leading to the highest joy, a more pragmatic ones would assert that being smarter just makes one more sad.
And potentially also mad
Session 2 Take home lesson
Intelligence is not a static trait but can be modified under the right educational interventions.
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