Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Thesis
  • Published:

The implicit bias impeding chemistry

Subjects

Bifurcating the population as either verbal or visual thinkers is one of the simplest ways to classify intelligence. Bruce Gibb argues that visual thinking is key to chemistry, and that teaching and testing must focus on this type of thinking rather than traditional approaches promoting verbal thinking skills.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Grandin, T. Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions (Riverhead Books, 2022).

  2. Gardner, H. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences (Basic Books, 2011).

  3. West, T. G. In The Mind’s Eye 3rd edn (Prometheus, 2009).

  4. Hadamard, J. An Essay on the Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field 142–143 (Dover Publications, 1954).

  5. Armstrong, T. The Power of Neurodiversity: Unleashing the Advantages of your Differently Wired Brain (Da Capo Press, 2010).

  6. Ball, P. What does AI mean for chemistry? Chemistry World (6 February 2023); https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/what-does-ai-mean-for-chemistry/4016813.article

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bruce C. Gibb.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gibb, B.C. The implicit bias impeding chemistry. Nat. Chem. 15, 589–590 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01195-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-023-01195-0

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing