Experimental testing of constructivism and related theories

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to show that experimental scientific methods can be applied to explain how the analytic mechanism of the left cerebral hemisphere and the synthetic mechanism of the right one create complex cognitive constructions like ontology and mathematics. Nominalism and ordinal mathematical concepts are related to the analytic left hemisphere while Platonism and cardinal mathematical concepts are related to the synthetic right one. Thus persons with a dominant left hemisphere tend to prefer nominalist ontology and have more aptitude for ordinal mathematics than for cardinal mathematics, while persons with a dominant right hemisphere tend to prefer platonist ontology and have more aptitude for cardinal mathematics than for ordinal mathematics. It is further explained how the Kantism temporal mode of perceiving experience can be related to the left hemisphere while the Kantian spatial mode of perceiving experience can be related to the right hemisphere. This relation can be tested experimentally, thus the Kantian source of constructivism, and through it constructivism itself, can be tested experimentally.

Ontological and Kantian modes of perceiving experience Hemispheric basis for physical cognition

“…It has been suggested in Fidelman (1985Fidelman ( , 1987Fidelman ( , 1988Fidelman ( , 1989Fidelman ( , 1990Fidelman ( , 1991Fidelman ( , 1994Fidelman ( , 1995 that there is relation between the cerebral hemispheres and the Platonic and nominalist ontologies on the one hand, and the Kantian modes of perception on the other. This work is a rewritten, updated and extended version of Fidelman (1996).…”

Effects of Learning Style and Training Method on Computer Attitude and Performance in World Wide Web Page Design Training

“…One implication resulting from the study, in line with constructivism, was that children might have different subjective mathematical conceptions that might be related to different aptitudes. Fidelman then suggested to classify children by hemispheric test before they entered school in order to determine the most efficient method to teach each individual child arithmetic [43]. In this case, ATI and constructivist theory are a complement with each other.…”

“…Constructivism and ATI may have different focuses on learning but, to some extent, they can serve as a complementary role to each other and both types of research are needed to get a more complete picture about learning. For example, Fidelman applied an experimental scientific method to explain how the analytic mechanism and the synthetic mechanism together create complex cognitive constructions like ontology and mathematics, which is constructivism-based [43]. One implication resulting from the study, in line with constructivism, was that children might have different subjective mathematical conceptions that might be related to different aptitudes.…”

Interaction of method and theory in cognitive neuroscience

“…The analytic-synthetic dichotomy may be related to the duality in human cognition (Fidelman 1991): analytical nominalism versus wholistic Platonism in ontology, analytical perception of one object after another in time versus simultaneous perception of space, ordinal numbers (properties of single elements) versus cardinal numbers (properties of whole sets), potentially infinite series of elements coming one after another in time without a last element versus actually infinite sets conceived simultaneously, and so on. The bottom-up (i.e., starting from details) versus top-down (i.e., starting from wholes) structuring of concepts is also related to the left and right hemisphere, respectively (Fidelman & Thimor 1993).…”