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Here is a brief overview, a little technical by nature, of the main elements of the comprehension process.
We are not dealing here with a simple theory or working hypothesis, but with a clear explanation solidly built on the research of Pavlov, Chauchard and Korzybski that can be verified in its minutest details by those who are interested.
Before we can define intelligence, or should we rather say "the comprehension ability", it is mandatory to describe the thinking process.
After lengthy experimentation and cogitation, Pavlov has determined that we think in two different modes [1] [1a] [1b].
The thinking mode by images association is a reflexion, in fact, of the circulation of what we could name "our awareness" in the whole of the sequences of memories corresponding to the whole of the perceptions of the senses: visual images, tactile sensations, sounds, etc., the whole being stored in "order of occurrence" in various centers of the neocortex [2], each corresponding to one of our senses. The sequences of events stored in the various centers are also mutually inter-connected in such a way that we can easily access what we can remember of the whole of our sensory perceptions for any specific past event.
The whole of all symbolic images of all natures that we elaborate and that we can have come to mind, and all the emotions that we can feel mus also be added to what we call the thinking mode by images association.
The thinking mode by words association is a reflexion presently of the circulation of what we could call "our awareness" in an infrastructure of links that are established in our neo-cortex between the various aspects of our memories as a consequence of the use of the language that we need to think and speak about them[3]. For us, French-Canadians, it is French. For other nations, it is German, Spanish, English, Russian, etc.
We observe the external world into which we live, as well as the internal world of our emotions with the images thinking mode, but we comprehend and describe it with the verbal thinking mode.
An important aspect of each object, event, chain of events, concept or emotion about which we may think with the thinking mode by images is that it potentially possesses an infinite number of characteristics[4].
Another important aspect of the thinking mode by images is that it never is necessary to have perceived the totality of the characteristics of an object, event, concept or emotion to which we are thinking before we can objectively understand its nature[4a] [4b].
Consequently, for any object, event, concept or emotion that we may think about, there exists a restricted set of characteristics that allows objective understanding of its nature.
The main characteristic of the verbal thinking mode is the generalization ability [5] that it provides us with. This generalization ability is the process by which a bunch of images can be associated in our mind by at least one characteristic. Each word potentially is a generalization.
The word "dog", for example, can make a person think about a specific dog, about all of the dogs that he or she has known, about everything he or she knows about dogs, about the owner of a dog he or she is afraid of, etc. The degree of generalization expressed by a word, in any language whatsoever, is always determined by the global context, that is, by reference to the frame of references in which it is used.
We can now discuss intelligence, that is, the comprehension ability.
The mechanism of comprehension involves the use of two distinct processes.
A correlation being a relation perceived between two things, the correlation process, allowed only by the generalization ability which is an exclusive characteristic of the interior language, is an automatic process of memory search by chaining of successive correlations between elements pertaining, to any degree, to the subject being examined, usually resulting in the perception of a coherence in the set of associated elements.
Perception of a coherence[8], that is, the impression of having understood something following cogitation on the subject is not, however, as such, a guaranty that the subject of our cogitation has been objectively understood. We must, therefore, introduce another process in order to orient our thinking towards objective comprehension, which always is the ultimate goal.
The comprehension process is a method used by the human brain, consisting of exploring and re-exploring a concept until objective understanding of the concept as a whole has been reached.
Each new exploration will lead to the perception of a new and sharper coherence. The final coherence will ideally enclose the restricted set of objective characteristics that objectively describes the concept being explored.
The only way we have at our disposal that will let the comprehension process operate efficiently, is to force ourselves never to be totally certain that we have objectively understood anything [9].
The generalization ability, which is the very foundation of the whole comprehension mechanism, being an exclusive property of language, it follows that the more articulate we verbally become, the more efficiently the comprehension process will operate.
The degree of awakening of intelligence, that is, of the comprehension ability, is therefore directly linked to the degree of mastery of language[10].
At birth, the centers that will eventually support the verbal thinking mode are not yet physically interconnected with the centers that already support the thinking mode by images. The necessary synaptic connections do not yet physically exist.
Seven years are apparently required for the synaptic interconnecting network between the centers supporting verbal thought and the centers supporting thought by images to be physically completed [11]. It is therefore imperative that the child becomes in infancy sufficiently verbally articulate to allow him or her to easily express his or her thoughts and easily describe what he or she perceives and understands.
The richness of the interconnecting synaptic net that will physically structure itself between the centers of thought by images and the centers of verbal thought, and that will serve for the rest of the individual’s life, is directly dependent on the quality of that apprenticeship [12].
It must be said, however, for those whose verbal development conditions could have been less than optimal, that the situation seems to be repairable in part, and maybe completely, to the degree that the person concerned is interested and ready to invest the time and effort required.
On their part, the IQ tests quite obviously measure the speed with which a person can perceive specific coherences. That speed presently seems to be in relation with the quality of the language acquired in infancy, but also constantly seems to vary during the lifetime of an individual as a function of the intensity of use of the language centers[13].
A heavy reader, for example, intensely uses the centers supporting verbal thought and will probably see an increase in his or her coherence perception speed. Conversely, if that person stops reading for a period of time, he or she will probably see a decrease in his or her coherence perception speed. Many other factors certainly also have to be taken into account[14].
Since the comprehension process mandatorily involves a permanent questioning process that leads, with time, to the perception of a series of increasingly precise coherences for each object, event, concept or emotion of real life that an individual may think about, tests measuring only the speed with which specific coherences can be perceived by an individual, can in no way give any idea of the degree to which that individual uses the comprehension process[15].
By its very nature, the closeness of a perceived coherence to objective reality can be verified only in relation with the perceived coherences of other persons considering the same object, event, concept or emotion, because there is only one objective reality [16] [16a] [16b].
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Copyright © 1997 - André Michaud
