personal preference art : Adaptive Knowledge and Decisions
Goldberg (2001) calls the cognitive processes that lead to a personal preference among alternatives adaptive thought and decision-making. Knowing the names of the presidential candidates is veridical knowledge. Casting my vote is an adaptive decision. Most human thought and decision-making are adaptive, actor-centered. How do I interpret the facts? Which choice is best for me?
We often use veridical information during the process of making an adaptive decision. For example, we look at a restaurant menu before ordering and note such veridical elements as the cost and composition of items. Cost may be important to the price-conscious and ingredients to the allergic – but the issue of what we should order has no correct or incorrect answer. It抯 a personal preference based on many factors, and any order is a legitimate decision.
Even U.S. Supreme Court decisions are adaptive. After examining the veridical facts of the case and the relevant carefully worded laws and precedents, the judges may adaptively differ 5-4 on which position in the case is constitutionally correct.
This veridical/adaptive relationship also exists in arts, humanities, and social skills programs that subjectively integrate veridical information into adaptive decisions. All these cognitively important curricular areas have sadly lost their school significance and funding in an era in which precise assessment controls the curricular agenda.
For example, art is a unique expression that抯 centered on preference. Thus, if it抯 possible to precisely evaluate art, it抯 not art but rather reproducible craft. There抯 nothing wrong with craft; it抯 just not art. When a noted pianist was asked to explain the difference between a piano player and a pianist, he responded that anyone can play the correct notes. That response gets to the heart of the issue. Playing the correct notes (a veridical act) is important, but the aesthetics of playing the correct notes with adaptive style and grace is more important.
Consider professional basketball. Veridical information (such as scores, averages, and records) dominates sports reporting. Fans want their team to win, but they抮e generally more interested in observing the many adaptive decisions that occur during a game—as elite players follow set plays or improvise shots, coaches send players in and out of the game, and referees respond to or ignore violations. Perhaps more important, fans want both teams to play with the creative style and grace expected of athletic virtuosos. It will thus be possible to identify the champion with veridical certainty at the end of the NBA playoffs, but something is seriously missing in the enterprise if that抯 all the long season was about. So is it also with schools and test scores.
© 1999-2006 Scientific Learning All Rights Reserved
We often use veridical information during the process of making an adaptive decision. For example, we look at a restaurant menu before ordering and note such veridical elements as the cost and composition of items. Cost may be important to the price-conscious and ingredients to the allergic – but the issue of what we should order has no correct or incorrect answer. It抯 a personal preference based on many factors, and any order is a legitimate decision.
Even U.S. Supreme Court decisions are adaptive. After examining the veridical facts of the case and the relevant carefully worded laws and precedents, the judges may adaptively differ 5-4 on which position in the case is constitutionally correct.
This veridical/adaptive relationship also exists in arts, humanities, and social skills programs that subjectively integrate veridical information into adaptive decisions. All these cognitively important curricular areas have sadly lost their school significance and funding in an era in which precise assessment controls the curricular agenda.
For example, art is a unique expression that抯 centered on preference. Thus, if it抯 possible to precisely evaluate art, it抯 not art but rather reproducible craft. There抯 nothing wrong with craft; it抯 just not art. When a noted pianist was asked to explain the difference between a piano player and a pianist, he responded that anyone can play the correct notes. That response gets to the heart of the issue. Playing the correct notes (a veridical act) is important, but the aesthetics of playing the correct notes with adaptive style and grace is more important.
Consider professional basketball. Veridical information (such as scores, averages, and records) dominates sports reporting. Fans want their team to win, but they抮e generally more interested in observing the many adaptive decisions that occur during a game—as elite players follow set plays or improvise shots, coaches send players in and out of the game, and referees respond to or ignore violations. Perhaps more important, fans want both teams to play with the creative style and grace expected of athletic virtuosos. It will thus be possible to identify the champion with veridical certainty at the end of the NBA playoffs, but something is seriously missing in the enterprise if that抯 all the long season was about. So is it also with schools and test scores.
© 1999-2006 Scientific Learning All Rights Reserved
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