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Education Shapes The Structure Of Semantic Memory And Impacts Creative

Leo Migdal
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education shapes the structure of semantic memory and impacts creative

npj Science of Learning volume 6, Article number: 35 (2021) Cite this article Education is central to the acquisition of knowledge, such as when children learn new concepts. It is unknown, however, whether educational differences impact not only what concepts children learn, but how those concepts come to be represented in semantic memory—a system that supports higher cognitive functions, such as creative... Here we leverage computational network science tools to study hidden knowledge structures of 67 Swiss schoolchildren from two distinct educational backgrounds—Montessori and traditional, matched on socioeconomic factors and nonverbal intelligence—to examine how educational experience... We find that children experiencing Montessori education show a more flexible semantic network structure (high connectivity/short paths between concepts, less modularity) alongside higher scores on creative thinking tests. The findings indicate that education impacts how children represent concepts in semantic memory and suggest that different educational experiences can affect higher cognitive functions, including creative thinking.

Early experience is of paramount importance for later cognitive and emotional outcomes1. In this period of high brain plasticity2,3, children’s knowledge is acquired efficiently through statistical learning4,5 and it is significantly shaped by interactions with the environment6. Despite the importance of experience on semantic knowledge (i.e.,7), few researches have focused on the role of school education in influencing not only how children acquire new knowledge, but also how they come to... The organization of semantic memory plays a key role in higher cognitive functions, such as creative thinking8. In the present research, we apply network science methods to investigate how different educational approaches, namely traditional and Montessori approaches, shape 5–12-year-old children’s internal knowledge representation in semantic memory (i.e., concept learning) and their... Montessori and traditional education can both be of high quality, but their approaches differ with respect to concept learning—an important feature of cognitive development supporting the acquisition of new vocabulary and crystallized knowledge.

Montessori education focuses on self-directed and uninterrupted learning activities that children perform within multi-age classes9,10. Children in these classes routinely engage in interdisciplinary, discovery-based work to learn new concepts (e.g., draw the outline of the continents, write their names, and classify them according to their population size), such as... According to the Swiss educational plan, traditional education focuses on teacher-directed learning activities, introducing successively different topics (e.g., language, writing, geography, math) that children perform within single-age classes. Children in these classes are asked to learn and memorize concepts (i.e., rote learning), knowledge on which they are regularly tested and evaluated with grades (starting from 6 years of age). When comparing Montessori and traditional educational approaches, Montessori classes have been shown to promote improved academic outcomes, socio-emotional learning, and divergent and/or convergent creativity11,12,13,14,15. Such effects raise questions about how educational experiences shape children’s fundamental cognitive processes, such as concept learning.

Environmental interaction plays an essential role in how children first learn about words and concepts7. For example, parents’ socioeconomic level is tightly related to preschoolers’ vocabulary level16, primarily until around the age of six17. As the child develops, the experience within the environment assumes an important part in the continuation of concept learning18. Indeed, semantic memory shows a 1.6 fold increase across elementary school years, with ~3200 root words being acquired between the second and the fifth grades19. During this period, the child learns not only the root word and its meaning, but how these words relate to other words, establishing deep knowledge representation20. During this crucial period of 6 to 12 years, the child encodes on average 800–900 new concepts a year, representing the building blocks of knowledge that form an interconnected structure in semantic memory21.

Individual differences in semantic representation are known to impact many important cognitive abilities (e.g., creative thinking) by influencing how knowledge is retrieved from memory22. Education is central to the acquisition of knowledge, such as when children learn new concepts. It is unknown, however, whether educational differences impact not only what concepts children learn, but how those concepts come to be represented in semantic memory-a system that supports higher cognitive functions, such as creative... Here we leverage computational network science tools to study hidden knowledge structures of 67 Swiss schoolchildren from two distinct educational backgrounds-Montessori and traditional, matched on socioeconomic factors and nonverbal intelligence-to examine how educational experience... We find that children experiencing Montessori education show a more flexible semantic network structure (high connectivity/short paths between concepts, less modularity) alongside higher scores on creative thinking tests. The findings indicate that education impacts how children represent concepts in semantic memory and suggest that different educational experiences can affect higher cognitive functions, including creative thinking.

The authors declare no competing interests. 2D Visualization of the semantic networks of the Montessori and traditional… Fig. 2. Case-wise bootstrapping analysis for the… Fig.

2. Case-wise bootstrapping analysis for the Montessori and traditional groups. This fascinating study by Solange Denervaud and colleagues explores how different educational backgrounds shape children's semantic memory and creative thinking. Through the analysis of semantic networks in Swiss schoolchildren, it reveals that Montessori-educated kids display higher creative thinking and more flexible concept representation than their traditionally educated counterparts. Explore these studies to deepen your understanding of the subject. Neural dynamics of spontaneous memory recall and future thinking in the continuous flow of thoughts

Sustainable development in African countries: evidence from the impacts of education and poverty ratio The impacts of a high-school art-based program on academic achievements, creativity, and creative behaviors Author:Solange Denervaud, Alexander P. Christensen, Yoed. N. Kenett, Roger E.

Beaty DOI: .css-c6nly4{transition-property:var(--chakra-transition-property-common);transition-duration:var(--chakra-transition-duration-fast);transition-timing-function:var(--chakra-transition-easing-ease-out);cursor:pointer;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;outline:2px solid transparent;outline-offset:2px;color:var(--chakra-colors-teal-500);}.css-c6nly4:hover,.css-c6nly4[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.css-c6nly4:focus-visible,.css-c6nly4[data-focus-visible]{box-shadow:var(--chakra-shadows-outline);}10.1038/s41539-021-00113-8 .css-2y6psj{width:1em;height:1em;display:inline-block;line-height:1em;-webkit-flex-shrink:0;-ms-flex-negative:0;flex-shrink:0;color:currentColor;vertical-align:middle;-webkit-margin-start:2px;margin-inline-start:2px;-webkit-margin-end:2px;margin-inline-end:2px;} Education is central to the acquisition of knowledge, such as when children learn new concepts. It is unknown, however, whether educational differences impact not only what concepts children learn, but how those concepts come to be represented in semantic memory—a system that supports higher cognitive functions, such as creative... Here we leverage computational network science tools to study hidden knowledge structures of 67 Swiss schoolchildren from two distinct educational backgrounds—Montessori and traditional, matched on socioeconomic factors and nonverbal intelligence—to examine how educational experience... We find that children experiencing Montessori education show a more flexible semantic network structure (high connectivity/short paths between concepts, less modularity) alongside higher scores on creative thinking tests.

The findings indicate that education impacts how children represent concepts in semantic memory and suggest that different educational experiences can affect higher cognitive functions, including creative thinking. We provide a streamlined, one-stop experience, from literature discovery to final citation. Journals:.css-r8tqxb{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;-webkit-appearance:none;-moz-appearance:none;-ms-appearance:none;appearance:none;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;user-select:none;position:relative;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:baseline;outline:2px solid transparent;outline-offset:2px;line-height:var(--chakra-lineHeights-normal);border-radius:var(--chakra-radii-md);font-weight:var(--chakra-fontWeights-semibold);transition-property:var(--chakra-transition-property-common);transition-duration:var(--chakra-transition-duration-normal);height:auto;min-width:var(--chakra-sizes-10);font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);-webkit-padding-start:var(--chakra-space-4);padding-inline-start:var(--chakra-space-4);-webkit-padding-end:var(--chakra-space-4);padding-inline-end:var(--chakra-space-4);padding:0px;color:var(--chakra-colors-teal-500);}.css-r8tqxb:focus-visible,.css-r8tqxb[data-focus-visible]{box-shadow:var(--chakra-shadows-outline);}.css-r8tqxb:disabled,.css-r8tqxb[disabled],.css-r8tqxb[aria-disabled=true],.css-r8tqxb[data-disabled]{opacity:0.4;cursor:not-allowed;box-shadow:var(--chakra-shadows-none);}.css-r8tqxb:hover,.css-r8tqxb[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.css-r8tqxb:hover:disabled,.css-r8tqxb[data-hover]:disabled,.css-r8tqxb:hover[disabled],.css-r8tqxb[data-hover][disabled],.css-r8tqxb:hover[aria-disabled=true],.css-r8tqxb[data-hover][aria-disabled=true],.css-r8tqxb:hover[data-disabled],.css-r8tqxb[data-hover][data-disabled]{background:initial;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-r8tqxb:active,.css-r8tqxb[data-active]{color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-700);}npj Science of Learning

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