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Knowledge Construction in the Brain

To design the way of learning and teaching from environmental, the educational psychologists have helped a lot. Pure cognitive theory largely rejects behaviorism on the basis that it reduces reduces complex human behavior to simple cause and effect. Our human brains are optimized to remember information to various degrees. At the same time, they can be able to quickly discard irrelevant, non-repetitive details [1]. By designing the knowledge structures, our brain will alter and verify the new information (via encoded) with the past experienced knowledge more effectively. In addition, post-encoding processes such as consolidation and retrieval are presumed to be facilitated once new experiences fit with previously encountered experiences [2,3]. New information then becomes integrated with existing schemas rather than independently stored.

The concepts of cognitive neuroscience, the false memories and misconceptions make us to create a knowledgeable construction in brain. They have consider and relates memory types and phases of memory formation (encoding, consolidation, reconsolidation, and retrieval), and review how these contribute to schema construction. They have also focus on possible functions of these neural processes. The given out line of cognitive neuroscience will be a pivotal role of knowledge construction research and their applications in educational system, which one is an unavoidable scenario. They are planned to give guidelines from a neural perspective (for novel research) and optimal knowledge acquisition practices.

THE PHASES OF MEMORY

The long term memory in our brain is arranged by a set of successive processes. They have enlightened new information as encoded into a memory in brain by the hippocampus and surrounding regions in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) [4]. The hippocampus is thought to connect different parts of a memory that make up a specific episode with time and place. A semanticize memories are faded away and associated memories are remained in the brain storage. An alternative path of transformation theory, here the memory will contain episodic details only when the hippocampus can still access the memory.  

The act of retrieval is generally thought to alter a memory again, updating it with previously and currently learned or retrieved information. Memories are then suggested to become reconsolidated into existing schemas, presumably altering their features again. In the way, schemas are thought to be continuously adjusted to optimize our understanding of the world around us and to allow the prediction of future occurrences.

KNOWLEDGE BUILDING AND SCHEMAS

Fredric Bartlett (1900), has coined the term schema which denotes a structure that people use to organize current knowledge and provide a framework for future understanding.

Similarly, Jean Piaget (psychologist) has used the term schema to explain how young kids learn regularities in the environment. Piagets concepts regarding accommodation (the adaptation of an existing schema) and assimilation (integration of new information into a schema) are still prevalent throughout educational theory, most importantly in constructivism.

In Richard Moori’s Lab (2007), the brain rats were found to more quickly encode and consolidate new information when they fitted with a spatial schema.  Multifocal concept research reports with both (in animals and humans) were announced well, they are focused specifically on human, whole-brain, and systems-level theories, which means how our memories are stored.

Most of these discuss the roles of brain regions such as the hippocampus and the Medial Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC) and their relationship towards storing, accessing and updating schemas. Overall, it has been proposed that the mPFC plays a role in accessing the schema in order to update it. Psychologists have concluded that brain research in multiple ways of store and memories in desired ways.

Figure. 1 The hippocampus and mPFC are presumed to have different functions when it comes to storing memories [5].

THE PREDICTIVE BRAIN

Psychologists have identified to understand that how and why the brain organizes information into schemas with considerable theories about brain functioning.

  • The brain has evolved to optimally survive in the world and memory plays an important part in survival. However, it is not always useful to remember only unique episodic events.
  • This hierarchical memory system, moving from a very specific memory containing time and place-specific details to a generalization that predicts how the world is organized, is proposed to depend on selection processes during consolidation.  This selection is crucial to survive in a dependable but yet ever-changing environment.
  • According to a theory posed by Buzsáki and Moser, the place and grid cell organization in the MTL that explains how we can flexibly navigate our surroundings, is highly suited to support such a hierarchical memory system.

To do so, the brain needs a clear and consistent world model. This model is similar to semantic memory or schema, and is suggested to generate prediction errors when inconsistent information is encountered.

Our brain is continuously absorbing information from the environment to optimize its internal predictive model. How can we optimally utilize this neural architecture to create memories that contribute to a malleable but durable schema while preserving relevant details and avoiding the formation of erroneous, but well fitting memories?

FALSE MEMORIES

Undesirable consequences of such predictive processes in our brains are:

  • They can give rise to false memories.
  • The precise definition of a false memory is debated.
  • They showed a strong overlap with misinformation, misattribution and misconception effects.

False memories are shown to become “implanted”, inferred, or distorted through presenting participants with wrong, incomplete, or overlapping information. For example, Elizabeth Loftus has made her participants remember memories that never existed, such that they were lost in a shopping mall as a child.

This finding, together with other (virtual) lesion studies on the neutral processes in schema effects, suggests that schema-related integratory mechanisms are important when generating false memories.

HOW CAN WE MAKE BEST MEMORIES?

They have think of a good memory as vivid, strong, and episodically detailed, such as memories of important life events (like graduation ceremonies). This is an important feature of autobiographical memories. Yet, such vividness might not necessarily be important in any situation.

In education, concepts of plant physiology with animal physiology are learned by normal memory without any episodic details, but an alternative way with bigger pictures about the related one. So it will helpful to ignore the misconception, misunderstanding, and also stored in longer memory via schema.

Such a dynamic memory is extremely valuable. They have insisted to students must create memories containing both episodic and semantic features. This method can be easily trained and is shown to change neural processes underlying memory formation.

Similarly, reactivation of previous memories while learning new information is suggested to help to integrate them with an existing schema, presumably making a new memory better connected and less likely to fade away. All of this should happen at a desirable difficulty, at an optimal “distance” from the schema.

Novelty does affect encoding, though, but not with an item by item basis. Several studies have found that exploring a novel environment or seeing a set of novel pictures enhances encoding of subsequently learned material, up to thirty minutes later.

Our SNB Team preferred this research work in this pandemic time of COVID-19 issues was to deliver the brain memory research. We hope that it will enhanced the strategies in every lifetime situation with memory lose. New types of schemas of memories “semanticize” may engaged to develop stronger and less likely to be forgotten life style. False memories are more likely to arise with very strong schemas in educational settings where they strive for a balance between episodic and semantic features. Here, they are discussed about how the mnemonic processes in our brains build long-term knowledge on different levels at different time scale in educational setting. Future view of this concept, understanding how the memory mechanisms in our brain work can potentially help to optimize our memories.

References

  1.  B. A. Richards et al., Neuron 94, 1071 (2017).
  2. M. T. van Kesteren et al., Trends Neurosci. 35, 211 (2012).
  3. J. W. Antony et al., Trends Cogn. Sci. 21, 573 (2017).
  4. K. A. Paller et al., Trends Cogn. Sci. 6, 93 (2002).
  5. M. T. R. van Kesteren et al., npj Science of Learning (2020), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-020-0064-y .
Blog Written By

Dr. K. Rajkumar

Central University of Tamilnadu

Thiruvarur, Tamil Nadu, India

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Editors

Dr. A. S. Ganeshraja

Dr. S. Chandrasekar

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Dr. Y. Sasikumar

Dr. S. Thirumurugan

Dr. K. Vaithinathan

 

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