In the realm of Cognitive Science in regards to teaching and learning, there are several components that play into art, art history, and art education quite well. Our logic and pre-determined ideas are heavily influenced by our social context, which has a dynamic system with our brain. Cognitive illusions are visuals that defy logic and, according to Al Seckel (2007), violate our perceptions in a pleasing way. Unlocking the illusions without social barriers is a way to solve Perkins’ model of playing the hidden game (2009).
Embodied cognitive science is described by AU Press (2010) as an adaptation of earlier philosophical ideas on how the brain works. It explains how the brain interacts with the outside world. The philosophy of education has a long history of exploring how a human brain functions in direct play with social, emotional ,and academic contexts. John Dewey (1859-1952) favored a naturalistic approach to education based on an active adaptation of the mind through its environment (Encyclopedia of Philosophy, n.d.). It has been well known for quite some time that a person’s social context directly relates to academic achievement: it’s just recently been researched and analyzed by cognitive scientists. For example, Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-ecological model, created in 1979, has four levels, or systems, that interact with each other and create an overall context for individual’s social, emotional, and academic contexts. Having awareness of students’ social contexts has always played a large part in my teaching methods. I have had many students who have struggled with personal issues related to their home life, relationships, and financial difficulties which led to a drop in academic performance. I would talk with these students extensively about their particular problems: offering a kind ear, support, and whatever help I could provide. Generally speaking, many teachers are sympathetic to these issues, but many others are not. I wonder: can education reform include acknowledgment of how social contexts affect teaching and learning? Current research has concluded that negative social contexts are directly related to negative academic contexts (Celikkaleli 2014). However, my personal experiences were quite the opposite. I grew up in a negative social context, yet my intrinsic motivation led me to academic success from an early age. I wonder if studies like Celikkaleli considered intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?
You may be wondering why I chose the top image for this blog post. It is a 16th-century painting by Hans Holbein titled The Ambassadors. Take a look at the bottom of the painting: do you see that weird, stretched image of a skull that appears to be hovering over the floor? This is an example of anamorphic perspective which was used in art as early as Leonardo DaVinci (Encyclopedia Brittanica, n.d.). Take a look at this video that shows you how this works:
Pretty cool, right? This painting perfectly illustrates the power of illusion. So how does illusions affect education? I have many examples of how perception interferes with knowledge from my art classroom. I have a student in Advanced Drawing who has been working on drawing a portrait of her family. She was showing a growing rise in frustration, exclaiming, “my drawing doesn’t look like any of them!” I explained to her why: she was relying on her perceived image of her family members rather than learning what they look like in a new context (drawing). Rather than carefully studying the image before her, she was using the illusion of their appearance from her memory. I gave her a new task: draw people that you don’t know. Those drawings were much more accurate, and she completed them faster, because there were no pre-set cognitive illusions. Here’s another video illustrating a variety of visual illusions from past to present contexts:
So, why do these illusions surprise and please us when we first see them? As described, the pleasant feeling of being surprised is a primal reflex. We tend to rely on logic more than we should: we assume we know what we’re seeing based on a catalog of prior knowledge. However, these visual illusions debunk our sense of logic. According to Y.Y. Yao (n.d.), concepts are the basic units of thought. However, in order to achieve concepts, learners need the stepping-stones of logic and rules to achieve conceptual learning strategies. Rules follow an “if” and “then” format. So what happens when visual illusions debunk our pre-determined logic and rules? I think it’s a visual strategy to strengthen concepts on their own merits. It’s a way to surprise someone into “seeing” that their logic and rules are quite the opposite of the concept at hand. Using visual illusions has a natural role in art education, but how can it be incorporated into other fields of study? Perhaps these illusions can be used in math and science as a way to solidify teaching and learning certain concepts by defying students’ logic and rules?
Perkins (2009) explains a concept called “playing the hidden game.” As a teacher, art history lends itself very well to teaching the hidden game. If I show an image of a painting and ask students to describe it, they always give me a simple description. For example, if I asked you to describe Holbein’s painting, I bet you would say something like this: it’s a painting of two men standing front of a table with various objects. You may also comment on the artist’s skill at rendering life-like details. It’s a fair enough start, but it doesn’t address the hidden game at play. If I start asking specific questions like, “why did the artist choose these specific objects?”, “what’s going on with that stretched skull?”, “does the surrounding illustrate the mens’ social status?” When I ask, “what’s going on here?” and “what do you see that makes you say that?”, my students start to question, clarify, summarize, and predict. Uncovering the hidden game can be tricky, but once done, it makes learning much more fun and engaging.
Perhaps, if we make our learning environments more engaging by uncovering the hidden game, we would encourage more intrinsic motivation in our students. Is intrinsic motivation the key to strengthen academic success for our students with negative social contexts? If we can make the game worth playing by uncovering the hidden game, maybe we can inspire our students to want to learn and do well despite their social situations. Watching the videos of visual illusions and breaking down how they are done is a perfect example of finding the hidden game. We assume that we already know what we are looking at, but, by breaking the illusion down into its parts, we learn a new concept in an exciting, pleasing way. Since visual illusions entertain us, how can we use them more in education to engage our students? If we can make education fun, shouldn’t that improve our students’ academic performance? These concepts, which work very well together, have the power to improve our current education models by playing the whole game. Uncovering the hidden game and using visual illusions has the potential to help our students achieve academic success, regardless of social contexts.
References
AU Press. (Mar 11, 2010). From bricks to brains: What is embodied cognitive science? Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2VuLqIb39g
Best Start (n.d.). Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model. retrieved from: https://www.beststart.org/OnTrack_English/2-promotehealth.html#ecomodel
Çelikkaleli, Öner. (2014). Education and Science The Relation Between Cognitive Flexibility and Academic, Social and Emotional Self-Efficacy Beliefs Among Adolescents. Education and Science. 39. 347-354.
Encyclopedia Brittanica (n.d.) Anamorphosis. Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/art/anamorphosis-art#targetText=Anamorphosis%2C%20in%20the%20visual%20arts,in%20the%20picture%20appears%20normal.
Encyclopedia of Philosophy (n.d.). Dewey, John. Retrieved from: https://www.iep.utm.edu/dewey/
Perkins, D.N. (2009). Making learning whole: How seven principles of teaching can transform education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Rousar, D. (Dec 13, 2012). Anamorphic perspective [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://youtube.com/watch?v=rspcl0ELnUY
TED. (Apr. 30, 2007). Powerful visual illusions: Al Seckel. [Video file]. Retrieved from:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzOQLDwUAC8&vl=en
Yao, Y.Y. (n.d.). Concept formation and learning: A cognitive informatics perspective. University of Regina.
Tracy Collamore PLE Project 