My theory of mind

I think human beings’ minds are one of the most complicated mechanisms in the world. From my immature understanding, I believe that different areas of our brains manage different functions, and they connect to each other to function as a whole. It could be a process that multiple parts are working simultaneously. The following picture illustrates my preliminary thought about our mind and learning.

First, perception from our sense organs filters and interprets the encountered experience, and it decides how much information will go into intelligence process. In the stage of intelligence, different abilities are functioning to understand and acquire the new knowledge, such as comprehending a text or memorizing vocabularies. Next, change will show on behaviors, such as performance or solving a problem. All the functions may not only work one-way or independently, but may affect each other mutually: change in behavior may shape intelligence and change in intelligence may also mold perception. The process is functioning as an interacting system rather than merely combining steps. Furthermore, motivation may act as an emotional motor to drive each step through the whole process. Without motivation, learners are like functional cars without fuel.

Most importantly, each component is linked to each other.

Take looking at the sky for example. My eyes (the sense organ) receive the light and reflect the image on the retina (I am not 100% sure about the biological part), and the image/message is transformed through the optic nerve to the area of brain that receives and interprets image. “The sky” only makes meaning (such as its name is sky, etc.) when I already have this information in my “database”. It could come from some one else told me it is called sky or I may build up more experiences about the sky when I have seen it in different conditions. All the information may store in different parts of my brain. My personal perception may affect how the information is coded and stored. Next time, when I encounter the concept of “sky”, related information may be retrieved and help me understand the new situation.

Furthermore, this process could be more complicated, if the task requires more mental activities. For example, reading this assignment and deicide what to response accordingly. First, I have to be able to “read”—able to see the words, understand the meaning, and interpret it. The interpretation could be based on my reading comprehension, my prior knowledge, and experience. I may retrieve the “schema” (the construction of concepts) that helps me understand the assignment. After understanding, I would reason my answers and put them in a logical way that makes sense to me. This process is also defiantly affected by my prior knowledge. For example, I have taken several courses about education and psychology, and the theories I have learned in the class would direct what I think. During the constructing response process, I choose what words to use and express my thought, and the brain commands my fingers to type (behavior). However, I think the process is not linear. When I saw what I wrote, it goes into my perception and comprehension. I would interpret and evaluate it, and change my writing and even thought accordingly.

Besides, I do not think our mind works like a computer. Emotion, motivation, and feelings could also be parts of every information process. They could be very different from person to person and play different roles in our mind processing and decision making.