Intuition Can Be Explained

ScienceDaily (July 2, 2008) — Intuition, or tacit knowledge, is
difficult to measure, so it is often denigrated. A new dissertation in
education research from Linköping University in Sweden shows that
there is a neurobiological explanation for how experience-based
knowledge is created.

"Can't 'splain sump'n to somebody who doesn't understand it"; "my legs
think faster than I do" (Swedish alpine skiing champion Ingemar
Stenmark). "Skate where the puck´s going, not where it´s been" (Wayne
Gretsky).

Lars-Erik Björklund uses these quotations in his dissertation to
illustrate what we mean by intuition, tacit knowledge, hands-on
knowledge, or practical wisdom. It is based on experience and is
something that experts in many fields possess.

"In studies from the 1980s on nurses, it was shown that those who had
been in the profession for a long time saw more and made better
judgments more quickly. It was referred to as an intuitive ability,"
says Lars-Erik Björklund, who devoted his thesis to a review of
research in various fields involving this knowledge.

In the 1990s similar studies were done on physicians and business
people, with similar results. The fact that people with long
experience are often better at what they do, that practice makes
perfect, is nothing new. But no good explanations have been put
forward as to why this is the case.

A few years ago neuroscientists discovered that the human brain has
dual systems for receiving and analyzing sensory impressions, one
conscious and one unconscious. In the unconscious, that is the
non-declarative system, our sensory impressions are compared with
previously stored images. We all have an inner picture book of stored
experiences based on what has happened to us previously in life. We
also remember the outcome -¬ did it end well or badly? With the aid of
these stored sensory impressions, we unconsciously assess the
situation at hand and can predict the outcome. This capacity is
especially helpful in complex and information-rich situations with a
great deal of noise.

The more variations of a situation we have experienced, the richer our
picture book will be and the more probable it will be that we
recognize the situation at hand.

"It can be a matter of smells, gestures, an ineffable combination of
impressions that makes what we call intuition tell us something," says
Lars-Erik Björklund. "We have a memory that needs to be filled up with
sensory impressions."

However, these memories are stored only if they affect us. In other
words, for experience to be built up, there must be commitment.

This means, according to Lars-Erik Björklund, that we can never read
or calculate our way to all the knowledge and abilities we need in our
professional life. Practical experience is indispensable and needs to
be revaluated. An uncertified teacher with ten years of experience in
the profession can be a much better teacher, assuming that this person
is committed to the job, than a newly certified teacher, no matter how
knowledgeable he or she is in terms of subject matter knowledge.

He also argues that components involving practice and lab work need to
be expanded rather than cut in professional programs for engineers,
teachers, and physicians. "We need to see, feel, smell, hear, taste,
and experience with our senses. This collection of data can't be
replaced by studying course literature," he writes.

"Experience is under-evaluated today, and this is perhaps because we
haven't understood this type of tacit knowledge. Now we know, thanks
to brain researchers."

"They (experts) may not be as hungry or energetic as a young recently
certified associate, but they have a superior ability to see and judge
what should and what can be done," he writes in his conclusion.

Adapted from materials provided by Linköping University.

MLA
Linköping University (2008, July 2). Intuition Can Be Explained.
ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 3, 2008, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2008/07/080701135820.htm