Cognitive levels are a
measurement of how
instinctive a
topic or
skill is to a given person; the lowest cognitive levels indicate something very instinctive, while a high cognitive level requires serious
effort to use or understand, because the
brain has to translate it to lower cognitive levels, sometimes requiring several translations, before it becomes instinctive.
What cognitive level a topic or skill is depends on the person in question, but many, especially academic ones, are almost by
definition at very high cognitive levels, making them hard to learn and use.
Reducing or '
collapsing' cognitive levels is a very effective way to make something much simple to learn, whether you are a
teacher or
student. In theory,
nuclear physics or
macroeconomics can be learned in ways, that make them entirely
instinctive. Certain
evidence points at some of
historys
Great Minds having collapsed cognitive levels within their prospective fields either by
accident or through
unique discoveries.
Cognitive levels can collapse on their own within the
mind of someone using a topic or skill on a regular basis; the brain has a
tendency to create its own
short-cuts when working a lot with something. Thus, an experienced
economist will be able to draw
conclusions from economic
data almost by
instinct. During his
career, he has seen so much of this sort of data, that his brain has become used to jump from certain
observations to their proper conclusions (sadly, this can also occur with
wrong conclusions, effectively hard-wiring flawed thinking into the brain). However, this takes quite some time to achieve, because it is a by-product, not a conscious
goal.
Artificially collapsing the cognitive level of a topic requires someone with
knowledge of the topic. A person learning from
textbooks or the like
can do it without assistance, but it requires some extra effort. In any case, the most basic
method is to create
simulations of the topic, usually
visual ones. A good example is
Genetics: The ability to understand the workings of
DNA can be very complicated if only read or taught orally. However, by creating a visual simulation, in which the learner
sees DNA and other
molecules perform their tasks, several cognitive levels are collapsed, because the brain need only observe things seen; molecule A passes the DNA at point B, changing to molecule C, etc. Even if the simulation is not a true
reproduction of what happens, the use of
sight rather than
text (which needs to be translated several times to become something natural for the brain) will collapse several cognitive levels. Later learning can build on this more instinctive knowledge of genetics, as per
layered learning.
Games, which allow a learner to both see and control things happening are equally good ways to collapse cognitive levels. When building on this knowledge, the brain will be working with a game, not
abstract concepts, and games are more 'real' than abstract concepts, thus making them more directly understandable to the brain. In spite of this, the learner will be able to apply the knowledge to solving problems like
chemical analysis or
demographic predictions. Just imagine the consequences, if games like Monopoly turned out to teach usable
skills in
stock market investment!
The latest addition to methods for collapsing cognitive levels is the use of
storytelling. A
story is told, in which things are named using
terms from the topic being taught. The actions undertaken in the story
emulate interactions found in the topic. A (fictive) story could be "The atom goes to town", in which an atom does things and experiences things, which match what is taught about atoms in
nuclear physics. While this may sound childish, it is a method applicable in
preschool as well as
corporate training programs.
In spite of all the fancy words and
academic theory, the basic
premise of collapsing cognitive levels is very simple: Create something, which is very natural to use, and make it represent concepts of something very complicated.