- Sep 2021
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www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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One last resource for augmenting our minds can be found in other people’s minds. We are fundamentally social creatures, oriented toward thinking with others. Problems arise when we do our thinking alone — for example, the well-documented phenomenon of confirmation bias, which leads us to preferentially attend to information that supports the beliefs we already hold. According to the argumentative theory of reasoning, advanced by the cognitive scientists Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber, this bias is accentuated when we reason in solitude. Humans’ evolved faculty for reasoning is not aimed at arriving at objective truth, Mercier and Sperber point out; it is aimed at defending our arguments and scrutinizing others’. It makes sense, they write, “for a cognitive mechanism aimed at justifying oneself and convincing others to be biased and lazy. The failures of the solitary reasoner follow from the use of reason in an ‘abnormal’ context’” — that is, a nonsocial one. Vigorous debates, engaged with an open mind, are the solution. “When people who disagree but have a common interest in finding the truth or the solution to a problem exchange arguments with each other, the best idea tends to win,” they write, citing evidence from studies of students, forecasters and jury members.
Thinking in solitary can increase one's susceptibility to confirmation bias. Thinking in groups can mitigate this.
How might keeping one's notes in public potentially help fight against these cognitive biases?
Is having a "conversation in the margins" with an author using annotation tools like Hypothes.is a way to help mitigate this sort of cognitive bias?
At the far end of the spectrum how do we prevent this social thinking from becoming groupthink, or the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility?
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- May 2021
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psyarxiv.com psyarxiv.com
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Agarwal, A. (2021). The Accidental Checkmate: Understanding the Intent behind sharing Misinformation on Social Media. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/kwu58
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- Nov 2020
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psyarxiv.com psyarxiv.com
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Pennycook, G., & Rand, D. (2020). The Cognitive Science of Fake News. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ar96c
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- Apr 2020
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psyarxiv.com psyarxiv.com
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Johnson, S. G. B., Bilovich, A., & Tuckett, D. (2020, April 30). Conviction Narrative Theory: A Theory of Choice Under Radical Uncertainty. Retrieved from psyarxiv.com/urc96
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- Nov 2019
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www.angelo.edu www.angelo.edu
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Section 1.3 Theories of Education and the Online Environment
This website is part of Angelo State University's online teaching training course for faculty members. This section outlines three prominent theories of education-Behaviorism, Social Cognitive Theory, and Constructivism-and applies them to online learning. Instructional Designers and course instructors can use this guide for the construction of meaningful and active learning environment for students. Rating: 10/10
Tags
- self-directed learning
- professional development
- online instruction
- e-learning
- technology integration
- Behaviorism
- andragogy
- higher education
- edtech
- adult education
- instructional design
- collaborative learning
- etcnau
- educational theories
- etc556
- Constructivism
- online teaching
- adult learning
- active learning
- Angelo State University
- Social Cognitive Theory
Annotators
URL
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www.learning-theories.com www.learning-theories.com
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E-Learning Theory (Mayer, Sweller, Moreno)
This website outlines key principles of the E-Learning Theory developed by Mayer, Sweller, and Moreno. E-Learning Theory describes how the implementation of educational technology can be combined with key principles of how we learn for better outcomes. This site describes those principles as a guide of more effective instructional design. Users can also find other learning theories under the "Categories" link at the top of the page. Examples include Constructivist theories, Media & Technology theories, and Social Learning theories. Rating: 8/10
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