In this article, we posit that through Brighter Minds based cognitive training children can be trained with skills through which they could transcendent their ordinary capabilities and perform activities that are super physical. Our position is based on the confluence of ancient as well as modern methods of learning. The conceptualisation of transcending from known realities to realities that are non-physical or super-physical is not new but dates back to primordial traditions or cosmologies of every known human society, be it Judeo-Christian, Muslim, Buddhism, or Hinduism (Abrams & Primack, 2001; Wilber, 1993; Roeser, 2005). Under such primordial traditions, human beings are considered as part of an unbroken continuum or spectrum of levels of being generally referred as ‘Great nest of being’; which express matter, mental and spiritual level as a unified whole (Smith, 1992). Philosophy of ‘Great nest of being’ could be closely approximated to Panch-kosha (Five Sheath) and three bodies system model of ‘cosmic hierarchy’ mentioned in Taittiriya Upanishad. According to this model every human being has three bodies, one is the physical body, the second is a crystal/Subtle/Astral body and the third is the causal body. The physical body is a subject matter of fitness, the crystal body is a subject matter of mind, mediation and the causal body is a subject matter of soul, sub and super consciousness (Raina, 2016). Panch-kosha is the layers surrounding the mind and crystal bodies of the learner that needs to be overcome to reach the stage of all-encompassing experience of the fullness of self and the world (Hiriyanna, 2005; Swami Gambhirananda, 1958 cited in Raina, 2016). Upanishadic wisdom explicitly describes the teaching–learning process through the combined operation of Atma, Maya, Antahkarana, and Pancha pranas to overcome these layers (Ramabrahmam, 2005). The human mind alternates between two conscious states dvaita [(Two—aham—idam) (Jagrat (wakeful conscious state) and Swapna (dream conscious state)] and advaita [(only one—aham—aham) (the JagratSushupti- conscious state)]. Unlike dvaita conscious state where the learner recognises the difference between Knower and Known, in advaita conscious state knower and known blend into one and only knowing exists in form of experienced learning, meaningful experience, and understanding—the cognitive energy form. Mind by alternating between dvaita and advaita conscious states enables humans to learn, know, reason, be intellectual, experience, and be peaceful, etc. (Ramabrahmam, 1997, 2004 as mentioned in Ramabrahmam (2005)). Further Ramabrahmam (2005) explained in concluding remarks that “modern-day technology such as artificial intelligence and neural networking can be attributed to the essence or gist of human cognitive process and language communication process as envisaged by the Upanishads and the advaita philosophy together with Sabdmabrahma Theory (as propagated by Sri Ramana Maharshi and Sri Aurobindo independently)”.Therefore we see Vedas and Upanishads have enough information that could be instrumental in our understanding of cognitive training and learning outcomes such as super physical abilities.
Knowledge of ancient methods of teaching and learning could only be useful if we blend it with the contemporary world of teaching and learning. In the modern environment of teaching and learning role of cognitive skill training (CST) is well acknowledged in enhancing learning outcomes (Bongarala et al., 2019; Gallen & D’Esposito, 2019; Solis et al., 2019). Moreover, due to recent development in cognitive neuroscience, a field of study that focuses on understanding the higher level of the cognition process, now our understanding of the complex process of cognitive development through CST has also improved (Goswami, 2010; Shaywit, 2003). Due to these encouraging developments happening in the joint field of Neuroscience and Education authors like Katzir and Pare-Blagoev (2006) proposed to integrate research focusing on neurosciences and education psychology leading to a new discipline termed “Educational Neurosciences” or “Neuroeducation”.
One aspect of researches that is happening in the field of “Neuroeducation” is exploring the possibilities of developing cognitive traits through CST. CST involves non-invasive interventions under which individuals are trained on one or more cognitive functions over a period of time with an aim to improve cognitive skills and related behaviours (Baniqued & Gallen, 2019; Gallen & D’Esposito, 2019). CST could be conducted through various methods and techniques such as short-term, long-term, group = based, technology-assisted, or computer-based. These methods have an impact on various cognitive traits of recipients such as memory retrieval, concentration, confidence, and intuition to undertake unfamiliar and challenging tasks (Anguera et al., 2013; Baniqued et al., 2014; Gallen & D’Esposito, 2019; Novakovic-Agopian et al., 2011; Temple et al., 2003). From these discussions, we see many recent developments are happening in the field of CST and there are possibilities for new opportunities in improving teaching and learning methods by integrating ancient wisdom with CST. Therefore we propose to test the role of the Brighter Minds method based CST on cognitive skills of healthy children and accordingly following null hypothesis is stated.
H0: There is no significant difference between pre and post-session of BM-based CST on cognitive skills such as memory retrieval, concentration, confidence, intuition, and blindfold reading of healthy children.
We could see there are five aspects of cognitive skills that are part of the null hypothesis, so the five Sub-Null Hypotheses are discussed in the following section.
Supekar et al. (2021) in his study found that cognitive training to healthy children can lead to improvement in their problem solving skills through efficient memory retrieval. CST on functional and social aspects is not only effective for healthy children but it could also improve creativity, working speed, verbal and working memory, and concentration of the persons even with poor mental functioning Sampedro et al. (2021). In another study, an eight week short-term cognitive training for school children was found to bring long-term neuro-developmental changes, the results of this study demonstrated gain in memory-based strategies among participants (Rosenberg et al., 2018). As a part of CST when 20-min brain training sessions per week for four months were given to school children, an increase in confidence and concentration was noticed leading to gain in school-administered math and reading achievement tests (Wexler et al., 2016). From these reviews, we see that CST focuses on bringing positive changes in memory, concentration, and confidence of participants, at the same time it is also noticed that cognitive training could be of different durations and follow different methods which in turn influence the learning outcomes. However, to the best of our knowledge, none of the studies evaluated the effect of CST based on BM on memory, confidence, and concentration of healthy young children in a single study. Thus, we propose to test the effect of BM based CST on cognitive skills of healthy young children and the following sub hypotheses are stated accordingly:
H01: There is no significant difference in pre and post-session of CST concerning student’s memory.
H02: There is no significant difference in pre and post-session of CST concerning student’s confidence.
H03: There is no significant difference in pre and post-session of CST concerning student’s concentration.
Two more cognitive traits that we propose are influenced by CST are intuition and blindfold reading abilities. Visuospatial representation and understanding of body spaces are known to influence the intuition abilities of a person. An in-depth discussion on visuospatial representation and various spaces of the body is made by Teversky (2005) where it is elaborated that visuospatial representation is especially important in developing an intuition for assigning meaning to objects around us and recalling when needed. He also explained that student’s ability to understand and reflect on the objects around them is affected by an understanding of their body spaces. Teversky (2005) remains inconclusive that whether intuition abilities could be enhanced through cognitive skill training and we found there isn’t much literature on this which motivated us to test the relationship between CST and Intuition and thus following hypothesis is stated.
H04: There is no significant difference in pre and post-session of CST concerning student’s intuition ability.
A person’s ability to learn and represent something that is beyond one’s physical reach and not visible is embedded in a concept of ‘out-of-body experiences’ (OBE) (Paersall, 1972; Revonsuo, 2010). This is similar to reading writing, painting blindfold (Metzinger, 2008; Pfeiffer, 2015). Blanke et al. (2004) claimed that the brain can be trained for OBE. Yet there are other researchers who are not convinced that through OBE one could retrieve inaccessible information from the world such as reading a number on a piece of paper kept out of sight (Blackmore, 1986; Revonsuo, 2010). Since the capability of doing blindfold activities can make a person much more efficient, it is worth evaluating whether BM based CST could enhance blindfold activities, therefore to test this relationship following hypothesis is stated:
H05: There is no significant difference in pre and post-session of CST concerning student’s blindfold reading.
Evidences in the literature shows that through Upanishadic wisdom it is possible to achieve superior cognitive learning capabilities (Hiriyanna, 2005; Ramabrahmam, 2005). There are also evidences in the literature that posit the possibility of cognitive learning beyond normal capabilities through selective training interventions (Blanke et al., 2004; Pfeiffer, 2015). However, this idea is not universally accepted as some researchers raise doubts about achieving extraordinary learning outcomes through cognitive training particularly gaining capabilities such as beyond sight information retrieval/reading and improving the understanding of body spaces (Blackmore, 1986; Teversky, 2005). Since cognitive skill training being an important aspect of the contemporary teaching and learning environment, we felt there is a pressing need to bring clarity on this issue.
Another aspect that motivated us to conduct this study is, from review of the literature we found that the effectiveness of cognitive training depends upon the method and technique adopted; and many different methods have been practiced by a clinical psychologist under the umbrella term Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) since the 1960s (Anguera et al., 2013; Baniqued et al., 2014; Gallen & D’Esposito, 2019; Novakovic-Agopian et al., 2011; Temple et al., 2003). CBT in spite of being an established cognitive and behavioural enhancement field of study, yet its application mainly focuses on the treatment of children with deficiencies (Benjamin et al., 2011), and its application for cognitive skill training of healthy children is not much practiced hence through this study we attempt to extend the scope of cognitive skill training to young healthy children.
In a previous study on CST based on the Brighter Minds method, in comparison to other techniques of CST, authors observed that for cognitive training of healthy children this method is effective and has high levels of satisfaction and acceptance among parents (Bongarala & Jayanna, 2019). Seeing the encouraging results of CST based on the BM method, in this study we have evaluated the hypotheses for effect of CST through this method.