The purpose of this paper is to search for the main characteristics of intelligent organizations. Intelligence is one of those concepts that everyone has in mind, but hardly few can define or explain it. Thus, it is even more difficult to... more
The purpose of this paper is to search for the main characteristics of intelligent organizations. Intelligence is one of those concepts that everyone has in mind, but hardly few can define or explain it. Thus, it is even more difficult to extend this concept to organizations, and to talk about organizational intelligence. This paper tries to show the new dimensions
Research in comparative social cognition addresses how challenges of social living have formed the cognitive structures that control behaviours involved in communication, social learning and social understanding. In contrast to the... more
Research in comparative social cognition addresses how challenges of social living have formed the cognitive structures that control behaviours involved in communication, social learning and social understanding. In contrast to the traditional psychological approach, recent investigations take both evolutionary and functional questions into account, but the main emphasis is still on the mechanisms of behaviour. Although in traditional research 'comparative'
This study aims to analyse prospective chemistry teachers' cognitive structure related to the subject of covalent and ionic bonding. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants in order to determine their cognitive... more
This study aims to analyse prospective chemistry teachers' cognitive structure related to the subject of covalent and ionic bonding. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants in order to determine their cognitive structure, and the interviews were audio recorded to prevent the loss of data. The data were transcribed and transferred into the computer medium. Furthermore, a flow map was prepared for each prospective chemistry teacher and then was analysed firstly in terms of quantitative variables used in presenting cognitive structure in quantitative statements. Secondly, the statements in the flow maps were analysed in terms of comprehension level. In consequence, it was found through flow maps that prospective chemistry teachers were not very different from each other in terms of cognitive structure and that their cognitive structures were full of inadequacies and misconceptions. Having analysed the statements in the flow maps in terms of the levels of comprehension, the scope and richness of prospective chemistry teachers' cognitive structures were exhibited in more details.
A growing body of research has examined the experiential grounding of scientific thought and the role of experiential intuitive knowledge in science learning. Meanwhile, research in cognitive linguistics has identified many conceptual... more
A growing body of research has examined the experiential grounding of scientific thought and the role of experiential intuitive knowledge in science learning. Meanwhile, research in cognitive linguistics has identified many conceptual metaphors (CMs), metaphorical mappings between abstract concepts and experiential source domains, implicit in everyday and scientific language. However, the contributions of CMs to scientific understanding and reasoning are still not clear. This study explores the roles that CMs play in scientific problem-solving through a detailed analysis of two physical chemistry PhD students solving problems on entropy. We report evidence in support of three claims: a range of CMs are used in problem-solving enabling flexible, experiential construals of abstract scientific concepts; CMs are coordinated with one another and other resources supporting the alignment of qualitative and quantitative reasoning; use of CMs grounds abstract reasoning in a “narrative” discourse incorporating conceptions of paths, agents, and movement. We conclude that CMs should be added to the set of intuitive resources others have suggested contribute to expertise in science. This proposal is consistent with two assumptions: that cognition is embodied and that internal cognitive structures and processes interact with semiotic systems. The implications of the findings for learning and instruction are discussed.
The objective of the present investigation was the analysis of the use of strategies of significant learning in order to stimulate writing in the English language, which affect the development of the writing skill causing low performance... more
The objective of the present investigation was the analysis of the use of strategies of significant learning in order to stimulate writing in the English language, which affect the development of the writing skill causing low performance and deficient level of knowledge in the students of sixth and seventh years of general basic education. The bibliographic information on significant learning sustains the importance of the use of didactic material in the processes of assimilation and interaction when acquiring educational skills and competences. They facilitate the connection to preexisting mental schematics in order to incorporate knowledge that generates significant learning. The methods used were deductive-inductive, documentary and applied bibliography, which allowed the collection of information through observation sheets. The results showed that the cognitive processes are inadequate due to lack of didactic material to develop and stimulate the writing of the English language. Due to this worksheets were designed and
Neo-Darwinian theories of religion include both nonadaptationist and adaptationist versions. Nonadaptationist versions contend that the mental architecture of the brain is wired for religious thinking but that religious concepts have... more
Neo-Darwinian theories of religion include both nonadaptationist and adaptationist versions. Nonadaptationist versions contend that the mental architecture of the brain is wired for religious thinking but that religious concepts have piggybacked on other cognitive adaptations, especially those for agency detection. Religious concepts are not evolved biological adaptations but rather by-products of more general cognitive structures that are adaptations. Adaptationist versions concentrate on the benefits provided by religion, such as increased social cohesion and the individual benefits that stem from it, such as better physical and mental health and greater longevity. After clarifying the meaning of the terms “adaptation” and “adaptationism,” this article presents four lines of evidence in favor of the adaptationist position: (1) in the ancestral environment the role of the shaman was nearly universal and was primarily devoted to the crucial human goals of curing illness and protecting and finding vital resources; (2) religion generally has positive effects on both physical and mental health; (3) religions tend to be pro-natalist and more religious people tend to leave more offspring than less religious or nonreligious people; (4) the major world religions that evolved in the first millennium BCE during a period of major social chaos and disruption emphasized an omnipotent, transcendent God of love and mercy who offered salvation in a heavenly afterlife and released individuals from earthly suffering. None of these facts demonstrate conclusively that cognitive modules specifically oriented to supernatural agents evolved by natural selection, but they are highly suggestive and make a good inferential case.
This paper discusses the theoretical background and some of the results of an interdisciplinary, cognitive-science research project on the comprehension of narrative text. The unifying theme of our work has been the notion of a deictic... more
This paper discusses the theoretical background and some of the results of an interdisciplinary, cognitive-science research project on the comprehension of narrative text. The unifying theme of our work has been the notion of a deictic center: a mental model of spatial, temporal, and character information contributed by the reader of the narrative and used by the reader in understanding the narrative. We examine the deictic center in the light of our investigations from the viewpoints of linguistics, cognitive psychology, individual differences (language pathol- ogy), literary theory of narrative, and artificial intelligence.
This paper discusses the theoretical background and some of the results of an interdisciplinary, cognitive-science research project on the comprehension of narrative text. The unifying theme of our work has been the notion of a deictic... more
This paper discusses the theoretical background and some of the results of an interdisciplinary, cognitive-science research project on the comprehension of narrative text. The unifying theme of our work has been the notion of a deictic center: a mental model of spatial, temporal, and character information contributed by the reader of the narrative and used by the reader in understanding the narrative. We examine the deictic center in the light of our investigations from the viewpoints of linguistics, cognitive psychology, individual differences (language pathol- ogy), literary theory of narrative, and artificial intelligence.