Dyslexia is characterise by learning difficulties, researchers from the University of Cambridge have conclude that people with the disorder are skill at exploring the unknown.
This strength has help humans adapt and survive in changing environments.
The findings came as researchers carried out a study on behaviour, cognition and the brain.
They highlight that the explorative strength in dyslexic people has an evolution link to it and has contributed to human survival.
Dr Helen Taylor, affiliated Scholar at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge Explained :
“We believe that the areas of difficulty experienced by people with dyslexia result from a cognitive trade-off between exploration of new information and exploitation of existing knowledge, with the upside being an explorative bias that could explain enhanced abilities observed in certain realms like discovery, invention and creativity,”
Dr Helen Taylor is the lead author of the study publish in Frontier in Psychology.
According to Dr Helen Taylor , the “deficit-centered” view of dyslexia isn’t sufficient and there is a need to change the perspective.
Dr Helen Taylor Said :
“This research proposes a new framework to help us better understand the cognitive strengths of people with dyslexia,”.
This is the first time a cross-disciplinary approach using evolutionary perspective has been taken into consideration to study dyslexia.
Dr Helen Taylor highlight that the environment offer at academic institutions, schools, and workplaces do not provide explorative learning.
Dr Helen Taylor also call for incorporating such way of thinking so that humanity continues to adapt overcomes challenges.
The findings are in context of the theory of Complementary Cognition that says that our ancestors evolve to get specialise in different but complementary ways of thinking.
This help humans adapt to changes through collaboration.
Dr Helen Taylor Said :
“Striking the balance between exploring for new opportunities and exploiting the benefits of a particular choice is key to adaptation and survival and underpins many of the decisions we make in our daily lives,”.
While exploration involves searching for the unknown, exploiting is using what is already available such as refinement and selection.
Dr Helen Taylor underline that an explorative specialisation in dyslexic people could shed light on why they face difficulty in tasks related to exploitation.
Dr Helen Taylor Said :
“It could also explain why people with dyslexia appear to gravitate towards certain professions that require exploration-related abilities, such as arts, architecture, engineering, and entrepreneurship,”.
