(I) The Role of Automaticity in Problem-Solving
"Once I get a good look, it’s all
mechanics from that
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- Quote from Michael Jordan of the Wizards in an interview
after scoring the game winning point against the Cavaliers on
January 31, 2002 |
In athletics, it is taken for granted that
excellence entails hours and hours of repetitious drills of basic
skills. In basketball, the basic skills include dribbling, lay-ups,
free throws. Practicing these skills individually in lengthy
sessions of boring, repetitious activities allows the brain to code
the body to respond automatically when execution is required in a
game situation. This frees the brain’s working memory to
dedicate its processing to strategic implementation of the various
skills required to play an excellent game of basketball. This is
what Michael Jordan is talking about. Once his brain’s
working memory has identified a scoring opportunity and a strategic
plan for implementation, his body will take over. The well-trained
elite athlete will not have to think about the specific dynamics of
how to dribble the ball to the right point on the basketball court
to score the basket. "It’s all mechanics from that point
on."
The same is true about using mathematics in problem solving. If you
have practiced all the basic skills needed to solve problems to the
point of automaticity, then you will not have to use any working
memory to remember multiplication facts, how to factor polynomials,
or laws of exponents – all the basic elements of useful
mathematics. Instead, you will be able to devote all your working
memory capacity to the more demanding task of figuring out
strategies for solving the problem. If you leave it to your working
memory to try to figure out what skills are needed and how to
employ those skills, then you will overload your brain and make
mistakes.
- taken from The
Math Plague, 2007, pp. 6-7
For more information, please see May, Rabinowitz &
Mantyka, 2002, pp. 12-18.
