Piaget’s Theory: Four main developmental stages

Sensorimotor (from birth to 2 years old): Simple perceptual, reflexivity, and motor activities.

Pre-operational stage (between 2 and 6/ 7 years old): Children in that stage have mental representations and a basic understanding for a single division of objects, but cannot combine classes (e.g., physical features such as size, colour, and shape) and cannot differentiate one class from another at the same time.

Concrete operational stage (6/ 7 to 11/ 12 years old): Children can do a variety of tasks and solve problems through trial and error, but will not engage in multiple problem-solving techniques or abstract thought processes.

Formal operational stage (between the ages of 11 and 14 years): In this stage, operations are coordinated and applied to abstract reasoning. Inquiry is applied to abstract and hypothetical problems of higher-ordered thinking.

Metaphors - What is a metaphor?

Lackoff and Johnson (1980) define metaphors as a "figure of thought" and as "understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another". They conclude that our meanings become solidified into patterns that create our perception of how we understand reality.

Children’s understanding of metaphors - Johnson and Pascual-Leone (1989)

Patterns of metaphor understanding seem to indicate that older children have more abstract thinking abilities to understand metaphors, which reflect a higher level of cognitive development.

Recall and Memory - Information processing theory:

According to this theory, the storage capacity of short-term memory is limited and therefore short-term memory is likely to diminish unless the information is transferred to long-term memory. Strategies such as rehearsal and elaboration enhance the likelihood of information being stored in long-term memory. Hence, an information-processing approach focuses on children's ability to represent, store, and retrieve appropriate information. 

"Yes just repeat the crap over and over again and by the time they are 12 to 15 its stuck in their heads and they will have difficulty unlearning the rubbish!" - rist

Source: www.ex.ac.uk/Psychology/docs/courses

Intelligence

The three facets; IQ, EQ and SQ and the consequences for Indoctrination and Religion

IQ (intellectual quotient) is our ability to intellectually assemble small concepts (words) and develop an answer (usually predetermined) that is acceptable within the conformity of social beliefs and do so quickly. IQ is not related to such concepts as understanding or accurate knowledge, nor even functional sensory perception. IQ has become what is now considered the secondary type of intelligence which is based on ‘serial neural wiring’ in the brain. IQ is a fixed capacity for processing cognitive (capacity to perceive, reason, or use intuition) information.

On the surface I guess religious or not, indoctrinated or not, this quotient will work to some extent for us all.

EQ (emotional quotient) thought by many to be our primary intelligence process, based on ‘associative neural wiring’ in the brain, is a set of learnable skills. Emotional intelligence is defined as “the inner capacities that let us create optimal relationships with ourselves and others”. EQ skills include using thoughts, feelings and actions to build self-knowledge, self-management and self-direction. EQ is believed to be a basic requirement for the appropriate use of IQ.

Now we have a problem, if we are indoctrinated with a philosophy or tradition that limits our thoughts to a single ‘irrefutable truth’, dictates how we should feel and act, provides a limited prospect for self knowledge and stresses ‘outside management’ (say by God or his/her earthly representative) and that stipulates that only religious direction is legitimate, how can we ever expect to “create optimal relationships with ourselves and others”. As EQ is ‘learnable’ so to then I believe is the lack of EQ.

SQ (spiritual quotient) unlike IQ, which computers have and EQ, which exists in higher mammals, is considered uniquely human and is arguably, the most fundamental of the three. SQ, is an internal, innate ability or functioning of the human brain and psyche, which draws on its deepest resources. It is a facility developed over millions of years that allows the brain to find and use meaning in the solution of problems. SQ is what we use to develop our longing and capacity for meaning, vision and value. It allows us to dream and to strive. It underlies the things we believe in and the role our beliefs and values play in the actions that we take and the shape we give to our lives.

SQ is based on the brain's third neural system, the synchronous neural oscillations that unify data across the whole brain. SQ offers us a viable tertiary process that unifies, integrates and has the potential to transform material arising from the other two processes. It facilitates a dialogue between reason (IQ) and emotion (EQ) and between mind and body. It provides a fulcrum for growth and transformation and the ‘self’ with an active, unifying, meaning-giving centre. SQ affords value in the way that we think and the decisions that we make. This quotient is the one that makes us whole, that gives us our integrity, can be seen as the soul's intelligence and the intelligence of the deep self. It is the intelligence with which we ask fundamental questions and with which we reframe our answers.

Stifle the development of SQ in children and provide a substitute fulcrum of traditions, authority figures and so called ‘historical stories’, ‘myths’ and superstitions and what kind of partial adult will you breed? Could a “whole person” become a suicide bomber, would a whole person carry on as do the ‘lunatics’ you see out of control at evangelist meetings? Do whole people need to wail at walls, ring bells, sacrifice animals or mutilate each other?

The big questions… Are highly religious people who believe that someone else is responsible for their being; wellbeing, values, attitudes and actions possessed of a higher, or lower level of intelligence than are ‘regular’, caring, self-aware individuals. Are highly indoctrinated people more able to make ‘good’ or ‘bad’ decisions? Will indoctrinated children ever be able to explore life’s fundamental questions, find answers to their existence and become adults of integrity and calibre?

A little more information on intelligence from Danah Zohar, obviously a person of considerable intelligence. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - B.Sc. Physics & Philosophy, Harvard University Graduate School - Ph. D Candidate in Philosophy & Psychology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem - Graduate Research Fellow. 1969-1971)

How the brain works… (Retitled abridged and edited) The Thoughts are mine however I have used Zohar’s technical explanations and information.

“When one neuron in a neural tract links to the next, and to the next and to the next, and passes the solution of a problem on to the brain as a whole, that is IQ in action -- linear rational thought. The biology of IQ is very similar to the way a computer thinks. And you can't run a body or a company without this kind of rule-bound logic.

When a nest or network of neurons interact continuously with one another, in a crackling exchange of electrical impulses, that is EQ in action - the fuzzier, less mechanistic, but more complex intelligence of comparing, associating, and evaluating. It is a richer form of intelligence, because it seeks appropriate choices.”

‘It is the third kind of intelligence that makes sense of everything. Recent brain research shows that there is a special kind of 40-megahertz oscillation that takes place at times across the entire brain. And that it happens when the brain is trying to make sense of an experience such as say… evaluating a coffee cup.

The oscillation dances back and forth to the parts of the brain responsible for understanding colour and size and stored memories about coffee cups. The oscillation locates and corroborates patterns of encephalic recognition. In this oscillation, the myriad specialized parts of the brain converge into a functional whole.

In effect, the oscillation is the physical manifestation of the brain seeking meaning, sense, and understanding. In effect, the oscillation is the closest scientists have come to identifying that part of the physical brain that corresponds to the ‘soul’.

Where IQ and EQ are naturally bounded, and can be quantitatively measured, it is in the nature of SQ to defy boundaries, to continually seek a broader perspective, a bigger picture. As such it resists quantification. Indeed, its essence is not about quantity, but quality.’

Point: “naturally bonded” IQ and EQ lead us to defy boundaries, to continually seek a broader perspective and embrace a bigger picture. Perhaps that’s why madrasas, church schools and other single view organizations try to overcome the very nature of children by using repetition of a limited amount of specific information… to stifle both EQ and SQ.

Zohar also asserts:

"Humans come into the world nearly empty of hardwired instinctual knowledge, but that we make extraordinary adaptations in the first two years. A 12-month old baby can utter every morpheme in the 800-plus linguistic catalogues. By 24 months, the baby will master only those morphemes native to his or her language.

Each human brain contains not only a memory of the formation of the universe (because we are made of the stuff that resulted from the Big Bang) but also the knowledge and mentality of every creature that has ever lived (because we stand at the end of an evolutionary chain with a collective unconscious encompassing all that went before).

There is a region of the brain, in the temporal lobe, that some are labelling the "God spot" because it is where activity increases when we ponder ultimate questions. Epileptics routinely evidence heightened activity here during seizures, and report it as spiritual thought and experience. Zohar does not identify this God spot as the source of SQ - but notes that it is fascinating that even experiences we have always classified as supernatural have a biological component."

Criteria for high SQ and Abraham Maslow's famous pyramid of human needs

At the base of Maslow’s pyramid are BASIC SURVIVAL NEEDS, then SAFETY/SECURITY, then BELONGING/SOCIAL, then ESTEEM/EGO, then, finally, capping the top SELF-ACTUALIZATION. “Maslow was right”, Zohar says, “except his pyramid would have been inverted and stuck in the sand. Yes, self-actualization is our loftiest need. But it is not true that we suspend our need for meaning until we are fed, clothed, and given a high-paying job. Meaning and self-knowledge are the very bedrock of a true pyramid of needs”.

Perhaps we should consider Zohar’s ‘new model for the self’ to improve the future for children (and perhaps all of us)

the Conventional arising from a core of Gregariousness

the Social, arising from a core of Intimacy

the Investigative, arising from a core of Exploration

the Artistic, arising from a core of Creativity

the Realistic, arising from a core of Self-Assertion

the Enterprising, arising from a core of Responsibility

Zohar’s criteria for high SQ as a basis for what I believe we need to offer as a ‘better’ way to exist to the young at least after they have attained the ability to reason!

Being flexible. There is no way a person can swap paradigms ( as we need to do constantly) without inner flexibility. The world is a place of multiple realities and children need to learn to live in it.

Being self-aware. Many individuals are uncomfortable with empty space and silence, perhaps because they force us to look inward and we're afraid of what we'll find. Children need to grow the confidence to overcome this fear.

Having a vision and being led by our personal values.

Using adversity. Viktor Frankl wrote about the power of looking horror in the face and finding leverage in it to survive. Children need to learn how not to flinch at or deny what they can learn from death, failure, and the things they fear.

Being holistic. If the brain truly connects, which is the thesis of SQ, so must we. Children need access to the big picture and learn how to synthesize!

Being open to diversity. Find ways to like flexibility, to enjoy difference. The quantum level of reality is infinitely diverse.

Be field-independent. Stand out from the crowd. Being our own person. Doubting everything we are told (see Prof Dawkins) and finding true faith in our own convictions.

Always Asking "Why?" It is a natural state for children and should be encouraged to continue throughout life.

Reframing. As children (and adults) we must always seek the broader context of what we see. Children need to be encouraged to step back and walk al the way round the coffee cup.

Insist on “servant leadership”. Don't let position and status go to our head and help children to mistrust and not accept big headedness in others.

Adapted from http://www.dzohar.com/bk_sq.htm, http://www.angelfire.com/home/sesquiq/iq.html, http://www.6seconds.org/modules.php?name=FAQ&myfaq=yes&id_cat=1&categories=EQ+definition%2C+theory%2C+and+history, http://www.mastersforum.com/archives/zohar/Zohar_Precis.htm, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1582341311/ref=pm_dp_ln_b_3/104-4187084-8313549?v=glance&s=books&vi=excerpt and http://www.mastersforum.com/archives/zohar/Zohar_Precis.htm