Education shapes the structure of semantic memory and impacts creative thinking.
Journal
NPJ science of learning
ISSN: 2056-7936
Titre abrégé: NPJ Sci Learn
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101689142
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
09 Dec 2021
09 Dec 2021
Historique:
received:
12
01
2021
accepted:
27
10
2021
entrez:
10
12
2021
pubmed:
11
12
2021
medline:
11
12
2021
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Education is central to the acquisition of knowledge, such as when children learn new concepts. It is unknown, however, whether educational differences impact not only what concepts children learn, but how those concepts come to be represented in semantic memory-a system that supports higher cognitive functions, such as creative thinking. Here we leverage computational network science tools to study hidden knowledge structures of 67 Swiss schoolchildren from two distinct educational backgrounds-Montessori and traditional, matched on socioeconomic factors and nonverbal intelligence-to examine how educational experience shape semantic memory and creative thinking. We find that children experiencing Montessori education show a more flexible semantic network structure (high connectivity/short paths between concepts, less modularity) alongside higher scores on creative thinking tests. The findings indicate that education impacts how children represent concepts in semantic memory and suggest that different educational experiences can affect higher cognitive functions, including creative thinking.
Identifiants
pubmed: 34887430
doi: 10.1038/s41539-021-00113-8
pii: 10.1038/s41539-021-00113-8
pmc: PMC8660875
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
35Subventions
Organisme : Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (Lausanne University Hospital)
ID : XXX
Informations de copyright
© 2021. The Author(s).
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