Commentary on “An Evolutionarily Informed Education Science” by David C. Geary

Abstract

Dr. David C. Geary's article centers on the concept of inherited folk psychology modules, together with the idea of a transition from primary to secondary learning. This article suggests that there exist only effective folk psychology modules, which are the result of interaction of inherited primary emotional systems with the physical, biological, and social environment. Consequently there is no transition from primary to secondary learning; all cognitive modules result from the process characterized by Geary as secondary learning. Furthermore, an evolutionary psychology analysis does not support the idea of a phoneme-based approach to learning how to read, as suggested by Geary; rather all evolutionary processes are top-down as well as bottom-up, and hence rather support holistic, meaning-based approaches. Finally the issue of proof and evidence in these contexts is raised; it is suggested that no adequate criteria have been given for proving existence of the suggested folk psychology modules, whereas such criteria do exist for the primary emotional systems that are in fact the lynchpin of evolutionary psychology effects.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I thank Carole Bloch for helpful comments regarding language learning that shaped part of the text.

Notes

^a Panksepp (1998, 2001) described this system as “rough-and-tumble play,” which may describe the major component in many mammals, but in humans it also encompasses many other forms of play that facilitate learning and creativity.

^b This can be regarded as consisting of desire and consummation systems.

^c Labeled the Panic System by Panksepp (1998) because of the way it functions when there is separation distress; however, that is not its only mode of functioning.

Liebenberg has lived with San hunter–gatherers in the Kalahari and runs a school of tracking for bushman youth; see http://www.cybertracker.co.za/ArtOfTracking.html and http://www.mg.co.za/articledirect.aspx?area=mg_flat&articleid=42349.

See http://www.ed.gov/programs/readingfirst/index.html

For a fascinating detailed account of how this occurs, see Chloe's Story (Bloch, 1997)

For example, Goodman (2008) stated, “One five year old, the best reader in her class, came back to the room in tears sobbing to her teacher ‘I couldn't make any sense of those words.”’

“Once phonological processing had been identified, … scientists had defined the basic functional cognitive unit underlying reading and reading disability” (Shaywitz et al., 1996, p. 80).

The words emotion and motivation do not occur in the index of Lyon and Rumsey (1996). One can suggest that brain imaging studies relating to language acquisition would be usefully enhanced by including imaging of activity in the lymbic system.

Shaywitz and Shaywitz (2007) identified three neural systems for reading in the brain's left hemisphere. Surely they must be regarded as components of a reading module, arising in a developmental way, just as language modules do (Tomasello, 2003).

Indeed, a nice recent example is the development of an SMS form of language.

See, for example, the claim that at increasingly higher academic levels “academic learning is predicted to become more difficult and any motivation to engage in this learning is predicted to decrease” (Geary, 2008/this issue, p. 187), which is obviously false as regards many academics.

See, for example, Geary's statement, “[S]ome people are predicted to be interested in reading about mechanical things (e.g., the magazine Popular Mechanics)” (2008/this issue, p. 189).

See, for example, Geary's statement, “The prediction is that novel and complex tasks will require an attention-driven, explicit representation of task goals and information patterns in working memory” (2008/this issue, p. 188).

See Tomasello (2003) for a characterization of these capacities.

For example, fear and shame are often key ingredients in inhibiting mathematics learning.