Divine Revelation and Human Learning

Chapter 3

Personal Knowledge
(Chapter 3.pdf 148kb)

The Physical Basis of Tacit Knowledge
Tacit knowledge as bodily memory - Michael Polanyi - knowing as a bodily skill.

The Cognitive Domain: Exemplars
The functions of schemata – schemata as both product and process – the relationship of the cognitive and affective domains – Thomas Kuhn on the form of knowledge: in the scientific community, in scientific learning, in scientific progress – exemplars as the form of tacit knowledge.

"Frames" and the Structure of Schemata
Marvin Minsky's frame paper - stereotyping - embedding - form of knowledge is more multi-faceted than either propositions or images - the logic of tacit inference - assimilation and accommodation

Analogy and the Affective Domain: Salience
The process of discovery is similar to the process of perception – the logic of tacit inference is analogical – no rules for the perception of similarity – perceptual salience – comprehension includes an evaluative element – selective attention and the role of judgements of salience

Dissonance: A Cognitive theory of Emotion
Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance – a framework for incorporating affective factors into a cognitively based theory – motive for dissonance reduction points to the importance of identity

Attitudes and Affective Processing
Attitudes are evaluative schemata – the relative importance of cognitive and affective features in information processing – affective processing as the leading edge of cognition