Teenage Kids

(This is an adaptation of an article I had published in a professional journal while I worked as a public school teacher in California.)

   
        They can be charming; they are often infuriating.  They can be perceptive; yet they frequently seem obtuse beyond words.  They can give 110%; yet they will try to get away with anything and everything to avoid effort or responsibility.  They are the children in that unfortunate stage of early adolescence--youth between the ages of twelve and fifteen.

          As one who had taught early adolescents for over three decades and who sometimes had to learn the hard way, these observations are written to alert and help prepare the adult who is charged with the stewardship of these youngsters' education.  Theories of adolescence abound and they should be studied.  But what follows are some of the stark realities of social behavior that the books don't mention and that sometimes catch the novice unaware or unprepared. 

          Besides the most obvious visual signs that a young person has moved into this, fortunately, temporary condition--the sudden physical growth changes (larger), body contour alterations (more adult-like), voice, skin, hair and sudden raiment changes (often bizarre)--are the behavioral changes (most assuredly not  adult-like) which accompany it.  A few examples are tendered to alert and explain:

          Early adolescents are LOUD.  They talk loudly, like their music loud and seemingly cannot stand the sound of silence.  Silence must be filled with their talk or other self-generated sounds. Or it comes from the sounds of their music from stereo or walkman (now, I guess, telephone) or if all else fails at least the popping sound of their chewing gum.  They are either turned on or off (to be taken in several contexts): their mechanism seemingly having no volume control other than "on" and "up." 

          Adolescents have their own language.  Now it seems to be especially abbreviated, maybe not so colorful as in my youth but more cryptic--especially their texting language. 

          Youth, especially boys, are very PHYSICAL.  Movement from place to place seemingly cannot occur without touching, pushing, chasing, perhaps tripping or at least jostling.  For a boy to reach around and surreptitiously touch someone on the shoulder or back of the head and then feign complete unawareness of the other person's  annoyance as to who touched them is very amusing to the perpetrator.  Disagreements among boys often lead to pushing matches, which, with the encouragement of one or both of the antagonist's friends (which can be expected), may lead to a verbal, or fist, or foot fight.  And when a fight does occur it becomes a signal for every other adolescent in the vicinity to immediately run to view the violence.  For these children fighting is exciting!

           To flush a toilet or put up the lid when appropriate; to remember that what you said about the use of vulgar  or crude language (which, incidentally, most  youngsters this age are trying out) as not really impressing anyone; to understand that cutting across the grass in the same place or pulling on the volleyball net as one goes by it, or closing a door on a classmate, or laughing when someone has a mishap are not behaviors which will win them points--all of this, and more, must be repeatedly taught.  Telling an adolescent once is like not telling him at all. 

Students this age are easily influenced by their peers--for good or for ill.  The teacher will find that one or two "difficult" students can quickly contaminate a class.  To save the class these students must be dealt with promptly and privately.  Consequences must be clearly explained to them and then carried out with consistency should the need arise.  Isolation is a powerful change agent for many of these difficult youngsters.  Being away from their friends is "harsh" treatment in their eyes.  To take away their electronic devices, for a while, is tantamount to 'cruel and unusual punishment.'

          Early adolescents are easily influenced by changes in their usual environment.  Distractions very easily capture their attention (unfortunately much more, often, than a teacher's careful planning).  A little weather, a little wind, a dropping barometer and a teacher or administrator can be sure behavioral aberrations will escalate.  The teacher does have the advantage, albeit a small one, of knowing what the youngster will probably do before he or she does it and theoretically can take proactive steps to reduce the incidence of the inevitable.

          The reader is cautioned to not get caught in the trap of thinking because a student is now in the middle school years that the young person is suddenly a young man  or young woman.  Of course it is the teacher's job to encourage them to become the young man or woman that they will someday be, but one must recognize that they are still years away from social and emotional maturity. 

          The fact is that with the trauma of skeletal growth and sudden hormonal changes, for many there is a probable regression.  Brains are not developed at the same rate as their bodies.  Sixth graders who were showing encouraging signs of responsibility and industry often suddenly regress as a result of the stresses they encounter from their body and from their new environment.  The typical middle school experience with many teacher and room changes, tardy bells, and new classmates from numerous feeder elementary schools along with the physical and social changes common to the age all contribute to the young person's disequilibrium. 

          Young adolescents need consistency and role-models--maybe more so than ever.  They work better with a routine and with something and someone with whom they can identify and count on.  In the lives of many adolescents there is much in their life-experience they cannot count on.  The family as historically the most important socializing agent in a youngster's life is not something the teacher can now automatically count on either.  The teacher finds that a custodial function comes with the teaching contract.  It is simply not enough for a teacher these days (if it ever was) to be only a subject-matter expert.  The inculcation of acceptable social behavior and mores and of universal moral values is an important part of the job.  And that Is a hard sell these days since the enthronement of 'diversity' and 'tolerance' as contemporary societal values.

          What all this means is that the teacher must count on his or her young adolescent charge being still far from being socially developed.  Many of these youngsters are diamonds in the rough, but at this age the typical young adolescent is very, very rough indeed.  Socialization of young people (the modern word for "civilizing") becomes one of the biggest challenges the teacher will face.  

An intuitive understanding of the consequences of one's immature behavior escapes the typical young person of this age.  They just are not focused on what an adult takes for granted.  Impetuosity, self-centeredness, self-justification and irresponsibility are unfortunately part of the age.  Without your explaining, reminding, modeling, and rewarding innumerable times one simply cannot assume that the average young teenager will remember to do what you might otherwise think should come naturally to a reasonable person.  Acceptable social behavior, in short, is not a natural endowment.  It must be learned and it must be taught and it must be reinforced.

          The point of this article has been to alert the adult who takes anything for granted in the lives of an adolescent is immediately in for a challenge that most sane adults would rather do without.  For challenges will come anyway--they are the essence of the age.

            And yet, teaching (or parenting) can be immensely rewarding.  In the final analysis, I found that all I could do as a teacher was to always stay composed, prepare for the worst, hope for the best and make plans in my spare time for another profession for later in life when I would find that I no longer possessed in full measure the patience of Job, the charity of Mother Teresa and the strength of Superman. 

In case you are wondering, I am enjoying my retirement and my teaching of adults.   


 

The Pattern of Human Intelligence (part 2)

The brain is a memory system that stores experiences in a way that reflects the  structure of our world of perception. It is a system that remembers sequences of events and makes predictions based on these memories. We then have the liberty to take action on our predictions. According to On Intelligence author Jeff Hawkins, such a system is the basis of human intelligence, perception, creativity, thoughts, behavior, and even consciousness. His hierarchical temporal memory prediction model also goes a long way to explaining all kinds of human behavioral phenomena that one can observe in everyday life: interpersonal relations, cognitive development, learning processes, false belief persistence, communication, miscommunication, personality disorders, mental illnesses, even dreaming.

His theory shows that the brain doesn't ''compute'' answers to problems; rather, it retrieves the answers from memory. Moreover, it only takes a few steps to retrieve something from memory. In short, the brain is a memory system. It isn't a computer at all.

There is no such thing as "a" thought in a cardinal sense, he says.  It is all dynamic; it is all process; it is all interconnected neural activity. He makes the point that human curiosity is not purely cognitive; it is biased toward the survival utility of information. Proximate and changing objects are more likely to affect the subject in a short term, thus attracting far more attention than they would for their contribution to predictive power alone.

Recent inputs to our senses are relatively more predictive than the old ones by the virtue of their proximity to future inputs. This is why it is important to review or practice if one wishes to stay ‘sharp.’ Thus, proximity or recentness should determine the order of a memory search within a level of cortical prior experience. Memory searches are unconsciously made though often volitionally started. This is why, in my opinion, that prayer and regular scripture study and review is so important; it is proximal, but stimulates retrieval of that which is stored and therefore reinforces it. 

Mr. Hawkins gives us a physical example of how this works.  He is saying is that the brain does NOT calculate the flight of a thrown ball, for example, but instead recalls from memory similar flights of balls while at the same time recalling again from memory the muscular workings of the body as it went after and caught or did not catch similar balls in flight. After a bit of practice (storing and retrieving memories) a person can get very good at catching balls.  In other words the brain predicts where the ball is going to be not through a laborious and lengthy calculation (that is why robots cannot catch balls) but through rapidly accessed memories of similar events.  By the same token one can get very good at playing the piano or dancing or doing public speaking or mathematics or doing virtually anything. Even spirituality is a ‘talent’ that can be developed. Nerve ‘pathways,’ which go both ways, are being activated, connected, and conditioned. 

This is a startling insight. Hawkins shows how everything we do is based on our brain's ability to use memories to predict events and thus take appropriate actions based on previous experience. To review in a little more detail how it works:

First there is a "sequence of patterns" of past events stored in the brain. These come from past experience with the pattern we inserted in our cortex or from the ‘software,’ the algorithm,  that was provided us sometime before birth. These can be ‘direct’ experiences, ‘other-modeled’ experiences, ‘perceived’ experiences, or even ‘vicarious’ experiences.  Patterns can correspond to concepts as well as the output of the physical senses.

Second, the brain has an ‘auto-associative mechanism’ that allows it to "recall complete patterns when given only partial or distorted inputs."  Information is stored in ‘invariant form,’ so that a face, for example, can be recognized despite the lighting, angle, partial exposure, and so on; these stored ‘invariant representations’ of actual, or what has become ‘actual,’ events, objects, or concepts in memory  predict solutions, (facial identification in this example), and continuously compares results to predictions to validate. "Prediction," as Mr. Hawkins asserts, "is the primary function of the neo-cortex, and the foundation of intelligence.... Intelligence is measured by the capacity to remember and predict patterns in the world. Our sense of self is even a pattern.

These predictions are about everything in our lives and they involve all of our senses. As Hawkins puts it, "All regions of your neo-cortex are simultaneously trying to predict what their next experience will be. Visual areas make predictions about edges, shapes, objects, locations, and motions. Auditory areas make predictions about tones, direction to source, and patterns of sound. Somatosensory areas make predictions about touch, texture, contour, and temperature."  So it goes with other sensory areas. These different brain areas or regions interact by making connections as necessary to the retrieval of the pattern or algorithm that leads to the solution of the problem or bodily response.  If the prediction is incorrect, then this information is moved up the hierarchy and learning may occur as new and often more general kinds of classifications (invariant representations) are made dynamically.

I would submit that the algorithm that is the very essence of the human spirit, when activated in a physical body is what makes us a living soul (body + spirit being the ‘soul’ of man). We are given ‘the breath of life’—the algorithm of life, if you will, when we become a living soul. 

The cortex is always processing spatial/temporal patterns of impulses, whether these originated outside of the cortex, as sounds, images, touch, smell; feedback from the body's own activity such as moving or lifting an object (proprioception); thoughts generated within the cortex; or cognizance of  the initial endowment or algorithm  of what makes us human—again, the gift of human  life.

Succinctly stated, human intelligence is predictive pattern-matching. When what we predict matches what we observe, we ‘understand’; when our prediction is incorrect we are confused.  Understanding is intelligence.

 What I add to this discussion is what scripture tells us: “The glory of God is intelligence— or in other words, light and truth.” As we diligently seek further light and truth I postulate we will activate connection with the pattern that is already there. Holy scriptures record that the Roman procurator Pilate, who had a great contempt for the Jewish people and their religion, standing in the presence of Christ asked, “What is truth?”  Unfortunately he left before hearing the answer.  I suspect Jesus might have said something like this: ‘I AM; keep it in mind.’

The Pattern of Human Intelligence (part 1)

I have been rereading a very fascinating book, On Intelligence, by Jeff Hawkins, published in 2004.  This reading has generated some important insights, or possible connections, for me.  Lest any of my L.D.S. readers suspect that I am trying to ‘teach for [as] doctrine the philosophies of men mingled with scripture’ I assure them I am not and never do. I am simply ‘seek[ing] learning’ from the ‘best books,’ secular and scriptural, ‘even by study and also by faith.’  It is the intent of Omnium-Gatherum-Millerum to pass along that learning.

[That which follows in standard type are my understandings gleaned  from On Intelligence,  and that which is in italic type are my particularly religious views that could be extended from it.] 

The human brain is made up of an estimated 30 billion cells—neurons.  The neocortex—the outside sheet of cells of the brain is actually made of six layers of neuron sheets (visualize it as sort of a very thin sheet of soft, smooth, convoluted six-ply plywood)  that are functional units of nerve tissue arranged in a hierarchal manner.  All regions of the cortex look much the same, but they do functionally different things. Nevertheless, Hawkins infers they use the same basic algorithm(s) everywhere. This is important—and the point of today’s essay.

Where do they get the governing algorithm?

Mr. Hawkins postulates that there is a single, powerful algorithm (a procedure or set of steps for solving a problem) that functionally ties these layers together and which our brain builds upon.  This is the key to learning and memory.  All your brain knows, he concludes, is ‘patterns.’  All our knowledge of the world is just a model based on patterns.  Memory is what happens to stored patterns.  A chain of memory is what is called a ‘thought.’ 

It is interesting that clear back in 1831 Joseph Smith, Jr., received a revelation that stated, “I give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived….” Believing the testimony of the prophets,  I submit that some fundamental learnings or patterns (e.g., what many call ‘conscience’) were ‘implanted,’ as it were, from before we became a sentient living soul and that ‘higher spiritual learnings’ from the Holy Spirit help inform  cognitions and reveal divinely implanted patterns for people who conform their lives to be worthy recipients of such input.  As spirit children of God we inherit divine attributes and are told “every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.”

 

Though lacking Joseph Smith, Jr.’s  revelatory explanation, the ancient Greek philosopher Plato postulated his ‘Forms’ notion that our souls come from mystical places and that our ‘higher minds’ retain latent knowledge of ‘forms’ or archetypes from that place. He, too, without science to validate it (as if science must validate everything), believed we were born with at least some ‘patterns’ in place to explain our relationship to our world. The concept of ‘instinct’ in animals supports that notion. 

Antedating even Plato was the Old Testament personality Job.  We read in his book that “there is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” (Job 32:8)  

To continue with Hawkins' explanation, he says the brain is ‘wired’ or connected in such a way that it is "auto-associative," meaning that it recalls patterns when it ‘sees’ (actually reacts to the ‘action potential’ or nerve impulse) similar patterns to the ones it has previously learned.

Hawkins  extends his ideas into what he calls the "Memory Prediction Framework” or system. This is the idea that the entire neocortex is built with functional units that predict the patterns coming from whatever they connect to, regardless of whether it is another cortical region, sensory input, motor output, or as I, not he, above posed: revelatory input. This idea is taken to be the defining property of intelligence: "The capacity of the brain to predict the future by analogy to the past."  Another way of saying it is the ability to make predictions about the future is the crux of intelligence! 

[This introductory essay will be continued in next Tuesday’s posting of Omnium-Gatherum-Millerum.  In the meantime, reading my 19 May 2011 posting 'It Goes Without Saying' will go a long way to understanding why I am so excited about this topic.]

Coming Soon—A Special Essay

I have lagged for over a week in producing a meaningful thought for Omnium-Gatherum readers.  It is because I have been using any spare time I have for finishing reading and thinking about a really illuminating book by Jeff Hawkins:  On Intelligence.  His insights pertaining to the structure and theoretical functioning of the brain have stimulated an insight of my own that builds upon his work in computers and neuroscience and my own religious studies over many years.  I hope to present my views later this week.  Check back on Saturday morning. 

In the meantime I would be honored by any new or infrequent reader checking out the titles of my 170+ previous essays on the archives sidebar on the right side of my homepage.  Some are somewhat ‘light,’ and many are dead-serious—at least from the point-of-view of a conservative old white male  You might find something interesting that you have not visited before.   

In any case, I have truly enjoyed writing my thoughts for an audience I probably will never know.  I always welcome feedback and I hope something I have written may have enriched your life.