The domain specific mind

Implicit thinking, basic logics, and disciplinary areas

Abstract

In the last half century, the idea has emerged that the mind can have some domain specificities, such as the multiplicity of intelligence or it can be characterized by analytical, practical, and creative intelligence. These distinctions concerned the explicit mind; however, it is possible to hypothesize that the implicit mind also plays its own role in orienting the domain specificity of the mind. The specificity of the possible domain configurations of the mind is reflected in the cognitive choices and orients the student from a motivational point of view. The research question of this work concerns the possibility of predicting a student's choice of university course with a scientific method by analyzing the implicit and explicit mind and their interactions. Can the domain specificity of the implicit mind guide the cognitive choices of the explicit mind? The concept of basic logic (Santoianni 2014) explains an implicit prototype of knowledge organization that precedes explicit learning and collaborates with it by giving primary indications on how to direct subsequent processing and thus contributing to cognitive management. The research was carried out using the theory of basic logics, according to which 6 basic logics (integration, sequence, individuation, comparison, induction and deduction, correlation) could regulate the development of both implicit and explicit thinking, with connection between the two areas. The quantitative analysis of the data confirms, through the result of multiple statistically significant differences in the use of basic logics by groups of students belonging to different degree courses, the hypothesis that some of them are more suited to the study of some subjects and consequently to the cognitive identities of the students who choose them.