Here Willingham gives us a fairly simple model of the mind. One part he calls the environment. It’s full of things to see and hear, problems to be solved, and so on. Another component is called working memory. This is the same as consciousness. Working memory is that part of the mind where we are aware of what is around us. The other aspect of mind is long-term memory. This is where we store our vast factual knowledge of the world. This knowledge can be concrete. It can also be abstract. All of the information in our long-term memory resides outside of awareness. It is there for us to retrieve we need it.
"Thinking occurs when you combine information (from the environment and long-term memory) in new ways." We bring each of these aspects of mind into our working memory.”
An aside here: This is why background knowledge is so important to understanding so much of what we have to learn. Without it, it is very difficult to make sense of the information in our environment.
Back to the main point environment and long-term memory...
Willingham gives us the puzzle below.
If you haven't seen this problem before, you probably felt like you either couldn’t figure it out or had to guess the answer. That's because you didn't have any information in your long-term memory to guide you. However if you have had experience with this type of problem before, you were probably able to retrieve some information about it from your long-term memory.
Our long-term memory not only contains factual information, but also procedural information. For example if you were to solve the problem 18x7 in your mind, you would probably quickly run through a list of procedures without giving it any thought.
So thinking requires that we retrieve factual and procedural information from our long-term memory.
Here's another puzzle:
"In the inns of certain Himalayan villages is practiced a refined tea ceremony. The ceremony involves a host and exactly two guests, neither more nor less. When his guests have arrived and seated themselves at his table, the host performs three services for them. These services are listed in the order of the nobility the Himalayan's attribute to them: stoking the fire, fanning the flames, and pouring the tea. During the ceremony, any of those present may ask another, "Honored Sir, may I perform this onerous task for you?" However, a person may request of another only the least noble of the tasks which the other is performing. Furthermore, if a person is performing any tasks, then he may not request a task that is nobler than the least noble task he is already performing. Custom requires that by the time the tea ceremony is over, all the tasks will have been transferred from the host to the most senior of the guests. How can this be accomplished?"
Willingham tells us: “This puzzle is really the same as the peg and disc puzzle above. But in this case disc A is stoking the fire, disc B is fanning the flames, and disc C is pouring tea.”
“This version of the problem seems much harder because some parts of the problem that are laid out in the peg and disc problem must be juggled in your head in this new version. The rules of the problem occupy so much space in working memory that it's difficult to contemplate news that might lead to a solution.”
"In sum, successful thinking relies on four factors: information from the environment, facts in long-term memory, procedures in long-term memory, and the amount of space in working memory. If any one of these factors is inadequate, thinking will likely fail."
The next section will deal with implications for the classroom.
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