The brain does a lot of unconscious processing, but most people feel that they can monitor and control their own brain’s behavior, at least to some extent. We are depending on their ability to do this anytime we expect a student to do any amount of self-directed learning.
As in any other domain, a common language to talk about how we monitor and control our own brains for the tasks of learning would be extremely helpful.
“Mind mirroring” is my tentative term for provoking the brain to reliably and automatically create a certain mental sound, image, or feeling in response to a particular external or internal stimulus.
Here are some mathematical examples:
External sound → mental image: You are learning a math equation with some Greek letters. You train your brain so that every time you hear the word “theta,” your brain immediately and automatically produces a mental image of the symbol θ.
External image → mental image: You are learning about angular motion. Every time you take a walk, you pick two objects and track their relative angular position, velocity, and acceleration.
Internal image → mental sound: You visualize the symbol θ and automatically also produce the mental sound “theta.”
Mental image → mental continuation: Visualizing the symbol ω is followed by a visualization of the equation ω^2 = ω_0^2 + 2α(θ - θ_0)
Mind mirroring is distinct from simply having these automatic associations. It’s an activity that you do, like calisthenics. Just because you know how to do jumping jacks doesn’t mean you’re always doing them. Likewise, just knowing that ω^2 = ω_0^2 + 2α(θ - θ_0) doesn’t mean that you mind-mirror this entire equation every time you see ω or hear “omega.” Mind mirroring would mean deliberately choosing to practice doing that. It’s mental flashcards.
What is a Mind Mirror?
The brain does a lot of unconscious processing, but most people feel that they can monitor and control their own brain’s behavior, at least to some extent. We are depending on their ability to do this anytime we expect a student to do any amount of self-directed learning.
As in any other domain, a common language to talk about how we monitor and control our own brains for the tasks of learning would be extremely helpful.
“Mind mirroring” is my tentative term for provoking the brain to reliably and automatically create a certain mental sound, image, or feeling in response to a particular external or internal stimulus.
Here are some mathematical examples:
External sound → mental image: You are learning a math equation with some Greek letters. You train your brain so that every time you hear the word “theta,” your brain immediately and automatically produces a mental image of the symbol θ.
External image → mental image: You are learning about angular motion. Every time you take a walk, you pick two objects and track their relative angular position, velocity, and acceleration.
Internal image → mental sound: You visualize the symbol θ and automatically also produce the mental sound “theta.”
Mental image → mental continuation: Visualizing the symbol ω is followed by a visualization of the equation ω^2 = ω_0^2 + 2α(θ - θ_0)
Mind mirroring is distinct from simply having these automatic associations. It’s an activity that you do, like calisthenics. Just because you know how to do jumping jacks doesn’t mean you’re always doing them. Likewise, just knowing that ω^2 = ω_0^2 + 2α(θ - θ_0) doesn’t mean that you mind-mirror this entire equation every time you see ω or hear “omega.” Mind mirroring would mean deliberately choosing to practice doing that. It’s mental flashcards.