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THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
Mark Mon-Williams
DEVELOPING COGNITIVE TOOLS
Sine qua non
…our ability to form mental representations about things that are remote in time and space…
Symbolic representationComplex advance planningMusic makingThe propensity for decorative artsThe ability to shape artefacts according to a mental templateLanguage
Wilson 2010
Culture
The sum of attitudes, customs, and beliefs that distinguishes one group of people from another. Culture is transmitted, through language, material objects, ritual, institutions, and art, from one generation to the next
Tools
A tool is any physical item that can be used to achieve a goal, especially if the item is not consumed in the process. Informally the word ‘tool’ is used to describe a procedure or process with a specific purpose. Tool use by humans dates back millions of years…
The ultimate tool
An instrument that represents many instruments, Aristotle
What we are admiring in the multitude of actions of the human hand is cerebral perfection, Jones
Embodied cognition
The embodied mind thesis holds that the nature of the human mind is largely determined by the form of the human body.
Philosophers, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and artificial intelligence researchers who study embodied cognition and the embodied mind argue that all aspects of cognition are shaped by aspects of the body
Interception predicts maths
Cognitive tools
Cognitive tools are generalizable tools that are intended to engage and facilitate cognitive processing… they can be thought of as a set of tools that learners need in order to serve cognitive apprenticeships… they scaffold the foundations of knowledge construction…
Cognitive tools help learners with complex learning activities. These tools are learner controlled in the sense that they construct their knowledge themselves rather than memorizing knowledge…
Reading skills
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Reading tools
There was an old lady from Bath
Who waved to her son down the path;
He opened the gates,
And bumped into his mates.
Who were Gerry, and Simon, and/ Garth./
Writing skills
Global writing in AD1492
Feedback learning model
S
Inverse model
FeedbackController Effector Trajectory
errorfeedbackmotorcommand
motorcommand
feedforwardmotorcommand
Desired trajectory
S
Cognitive retooling
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
Adults (n = 69) Children (n = 140)
Error(mm)
Kuwaiti
English
Maths skills
Spatial Number Association Response Code
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100
START
Spatial Number Association Response Code
100
START
8
Spatial Number Association Response Code
100
START
8
Spatial Number Association Response Code
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 010
START
Spatial Number Association Response Code
100
START
2
Spatial Number Association Response Code
100
START
9
Spatial Number Association Response Code
100
START
7
Spatial Number Association Response Code
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 010
START
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100
Tools
Western Reversed Mixed Western
Mixed Reversed
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Western Reversed Mixed Western
Mixed Reversed
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Reaction time (s)
Reaction time (s)
Cultural bias
PERSON
MICRO
MESO
EXO
MACRO
CULTURE
POLITICS
FAMILY
Hill et al (2010, 2011)
Many thanks
to the Shine Partnership and all of the children
John Wright; Amanda Waterman; Liz Andrews; Oscar Giles; Rebecca Sheridan; Katy Shire; Ed Berry; Liam Hill; Katie Mooney; Joyti Panesar; Sara Recalde; Nick Preston
