Carlos Esquivel- Memorization, Recall & the Affective
My memory has never served me well. Or better said, my brain doesn't like to remember information that isn't connected to some sort of stimulating emotion. Imagine how that might be a problem when most of the important information we're meant to learn during our education is delivered in boring and plain methods like textbooks or lectures.
As I've been reflecting on Blooms taxonomy, the different ways we learn and how I learned the best, I recalled the power of the affective and how it has formed the collection of values and knowledge that I use everyday.
While I was sitting in church this weekend, I drifted off into thinking about other things because I just couldn't engage with the sender's words. My daydreaming turned into thinking about how information is related orally and the frequency that those messages fail to make an impact.
For most of my life, I always felt I was responsible for not being able to understand what a sender was trying to communicate in school, church, and even in sports. My inability to stay engaged in scenarios where I was meant to pay attention always ended in two ways; feeling bad about not being able to focus/comprehend the message or just going narcoleptic and shutting down. It felt as if my mind would literally shut down and I couldn't stay awake; even if I was fully rested. It was automatic; someone would start blabbing and I would start the shut down sequence; 3, 2, 1, lights out. Commence awkward head nodding.
I believed that I was incapable of focus or comprehension for most of my academic life which negatively affected my pursuit of higher learning. Discovering theories like Sternberg's successful intelligence and studying the affective have bolstered my confidence and motivated me to keep developing a constructivist approach to learning that looks at a sender's message in terms of motives, underlying meaning of encoding and all the possible angles or answers that could exist. Over the years, I began to scrutinize the quality of messages I received and no longer placed the burden of comprehension solely on my own shoulders.
This exploration of possibilities and the freedom to examine every part of the "facts" is key in comprehension. True understanding isn't in the ability to recall, but rather lies in the students ability to,"internalize material and reshape or transform information into thought that makes sense in their world (Brooks & Brooks, 1993).
I have found that I remember best when I feel something, whether above average negative or positive. In other words; if the message triggers my emotion, potential retention is increased. It would appear unrelated, but the connection between the affective and comprehension is a very important factor to incorporate into the core of our communication if we are serious about creating successful learning experiences that modify behavior.
Both Confucius and Edgar Dale (cone of experience) attest to the power of doing in order to understand and remember. Here are two quotes from each of them discussing this concept.
I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.
- Confucius
People generally remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, 50% of what they see and hear, 70% of what they say and write, 90% of what they do as they perform a task.
- Edgar Dale
In the voice of Confucius, I would like to introduce another dimension of comprehension, "I feel and therefore I remember".
C. Esquivel
References-
https://www.etsu.edu/uged/etsu1000/documents/Dales_Cone_of_Experience.pdf
Howard
Gardner's
Mutliple
Intelligence
Theory
1. Verbal-linguistic intelligence (well-developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and rhythms of words)
2. Logical-mathematical intelligence (ability to think conceptually and abstractly, and capacity to discern logical and numerical patterns)
3. Spatial-visual intelligence (capacity to think in images and pictures, to visualize accurately and abstractly)
4. Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (ability to control one’s body movements and to handle objects skillfully)
5. Musical intelligences (ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timber)
6. Interpersonal intelligence (capacity to detect and respond appropriately to the moods, motivations and desires of others)
7. Intrapersonal (capacity to be self-aware and in tune with inner feelings, values, beliefs and thinking processes)
8. Naturalist intelligence (ability to recognize and categorize plants, animals and other objects in nature)
9. Existential intelligence (sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence such as, What is the meaning of life? Why do we die? How did we get here?
(Source: Thirteen ed online, 2004)
