ABSTRACT
This chapter first outlines a theory of the organization and development of the human mind. The theory postulates that the mind involves four types of systems: specialized structural systems dealing with different types of objects and relations in the world; representational capacity, enabling the representation of information for processing; inference, enabling the integration and evaluation of information; and consciousness, enabling awareness and control of all other processes. Learning to learn is one of the functions of consciousness, aiming to facilitate and enhance learning. Then, based on the theory, an instruction system is advanced with the goal of enhancing learning to learn, know, and reason. This system aims to enable students to understand the organization and functioning of their own mind and their own individual strengths and weaknesses, develop skills to facilitate the functioning of each of the four systems above according to developmental and individual possibilities during different periods of the life course, and become critical both for knowledge and knowledge production systems, such as science. Methods for teaching special skills for different types of reasoning are proposed.
This chapter outlines the model of the human mind that integrates modern research in cognitive, developmental, and differential psychology. It outlines a theory of the organization and development of the human mind. The theory postulates that the mind involves four types of systems: specialized structural systems dealing with different types of objects and relations in the world; representational capacity, enabling the representation of information for processing; inference, enabling the integration and evaluation of information; and consciousness, enabling awareness and control of all other processes. Learning to learn is one of the functions of consciousness, aiming to facilitate and enhance learning. Moreover, the student must be facilitated to tag the new constructs by explicit new representations that will enable him or her to mentally recall, manipulate, and relate the new representations with others that already exist. The chapter finally focuses on the role of inference in good decision-making and problem-solving.
