The Structured Intelligence Learner (SIL): A Coherence-Based Architecture of Human Learning and Development

This paper introduces the Systems-Integrative Learner (SIL), a structural theory of human learning that defines development as the stabilization of coherence under increasing integrative load, rather than as the accumulation of knowledge or skills. SIL models learning as a constrained, non-linear developmental process governed by an internal Coherence Integration Kernel (CIK)—the functional architecture that binds perception, cognition, relational modeling, and identity into a unified system. Learning advancement occurs through discontinuous phase transitions between stable coherence bands (SIL-1 through SIL-7), each representing the maximum complexity a learner can integrate without fragmentation. The paper formalizes: a structural definition of learning based on coherence stabilization, the functional role of the CIK in regulating contradiction tolerance and cross-domain integration, a recursive learning loop governing perception, deconstruction, mapping, testing, integration, and re-perception, and a set of developmental constraints explaining why learning capacity does not scale uniformly across individuals or domains. SIL is positioned as a human developmental architecture, grounded in and extending neo-Piagetian and postformal developmental theories, while remaining independent of applied domains or artificial intelligence analogies. Subsequent work will address assessment, relational dynamics, and applied extensions.