Steven Pinker - Psychology and Learning![Steven Pinker - Psychology and Learning Steven Pinker - Psychology and Learning](images/pinker2.jpg)
Steven Pinker (1954- )
Canadian psychologist (pictured right).
Professor at Harvard University and best-selling author.
His most famous book
is…
The Blank Slate (2002) – see point 3 below.
What does he teach us about psychology and learning?
![Steven Pinker - Psychology and Learning Steven Pinker - Psychology and Learning](images/pinkerchom.jpg)
1. Inherited intelligence
Pinker’s first best-seller was The Language Instinct (1994).
This popularized the belief of another famous psychologist, Noam Chomsky (1928- ), pictured
right, that heredity (from your genes) plays a significant role in learning
language.
Heredity limits how much influence parents and teachers can have on their children and
students.
![Steven Pinker - Psychology and Learning Steven Pinker - Psychology and Learning](images/dawkins.jpg)
2. Evolution makes minds
Pinker is an evolutionary psychologist who believes that our mind has developed to ensure our survival (as
Richard Dawkins , pictured right,
also argued in his book, The Selfish Gene).
But we can't be purely selfish because we depend on others.
So we must:
- promote people's equal rights (e.g. life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness).
But such equality doesn’t mean that people end up the same, because of differences in ability
and effort.
![Steven Pinker - Psychology and Learning Steven Pinker - Psychology and Learning](images/locke.jpg)
3. We are more than our experiences
In his book, The Blank State (2002), Pinker rejects the idea of the philosopher, John Locke, pictured right, that our mind is
like a blank page that is developed solely by
experience and learning.
The mind, says Pinker, is also influenced by evolution and your
genes (see point 2).
4. The brain is a computer
In another book, How the Mind Works (1997), Pinker likens the mind to a
computer that deduces the implications of facts received from our:![Steven Pinker - Psychology and Learning Steven Pinker - Psychology and Learning](images/brain.jpg)
- senses (particularly sight).
- understanding of how the world works.
To solve specific problems, the mind uses:
- different sets of rules (or algorithms).
- specialized parts of the brain .
Key quote on
learning
It's not all in the genes.
Key quote on
politics
Commitment to political equality is not an empirical claim that people are clones.
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