Processing the information of our world
One and a quarter centuries ago Ivan Pavlov ushered in the era of “associative learning” by training dogs to salivate in anticipation of food whenever they heard a metronome. In this model of learning, a particular event leads to some positive consequence. As we perform the event and hope for the reward, our brains subconsciously process the error rate and decide how to proceed.
But in the real world, there are inconsistencies with the model. The event and the reward may be separated by milliseconds before the brain can release its reward chemical called dopamine. Other rewards may occur months after the event leaving the brain to wonder what caused it.
New research from the University of California, San Francisco, suggests that we may have the model backwards. A series of mice experiments indicate that, more likely, we subconsciously scour our memory to identify those events that might be associated with the reward. Dopamine is used to mark the positive event for future reference.
The implications for this idea are great. Even though artificial intelligence (AI) works reasonably well using the old model, it could be even better. We might become comfortable using AI for many of our more important personal decisions. As a society, we could reference it in drafting all types of legislation.
The new model for learning suggests we should be more mindful of our surroundings. For example, paying better attention to nature when we walk in the woods, or in a park might help us to make better decisions.
Reading short phrases on a screen is processed by the brain superficially like a movie, but reading a more descriptive narrative on a printed page uses a deep-reading pathway that overlaps imagery and memory, helping us better contextualize events.
Another part of learning is analogy. We regularly make sense of new information by associating it with something we have already learned then we extrapolate it to the new. Doing this at the highest level by integrating widely disparate information is how we become wise.
With the information of the world at our fingertips, isn’t it the wisdom of interpretation that we are really after?
William Culbert is a retired physician who lives in Oak Ridge.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Processing the information of our world
