Over the past two centuries there have been many famous
scientists and psychologists who have contributed much to psychology – the
science that studies behavior; specifically how an individual’s brain function
and environment impact his or her behavior.
Some of the most influential psychologists, scientists, and
psychiatrists are not only recognized in name but also by the hypothesis or
theories he (or she) has contributed: Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), freudian theory;
William Wundt (1832-1920), introspection; Abraham Maslow (1908-1970, Maslow’s
hierarchy, and B.F. Skinner (1904-1990), behaviorism; to name but a few
(Science & Nature, 2010). Perhaps
the most influential, referenced, and cited scientist is Jean Piaget
(1896-1980) (Haggbloom et.al., 2002) . His
life’s work involved the cognitive development of children; it is said that “his
ideas had a huge impact on developmental psychology, educational psychology,
and cognitive psychology” (Science & Nature, 2010, para. 4). According to Piaget "The principle goal
of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply
of repeating what other generations have done - men who are creative, inventive
and discoverers" (Piaget, The Process of Thinking, 2007, para 1).
Nature
versus Nurture
Piaget is the first psychologist who worked on the studies of
developmental psychology, theorizing that growth and development occur as a
transition throughout the lifespan of an individual. With that in mind, Paget’s own development as
a child protégé can be said to have emanated environmentally. Although his father, Arthur Piaget, was a
literature professor at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland it is
more probable that his desires to pursue psychology stem from the turmoil of
his childhood. According to Presnell
(1999) Piaget’s interest in becoming a psychologist was the product of an often
neurotic environment brought about by his mother, Rebecca Jackson. This hypothesis provides a purely emotional development
viewpoint that Piaget’s relationship with his parents and the situational
environment of his early childhood led to his ability to understand and process
the inner workings of human behavior.
However, Vidal (1986, 1987, 1994, 1998) as restated by Mayer (2005)
suggests Piaget’s theological embrace provided him with an immanent moral order
and intellectual genesis that guided his “ambition to advance humanity’s
understanding of its evolving capacity to reason” (p. 365).
Familial
and Social Influences
Because of Piaget’s upbringing he matured at an alarming rate,
publishing his first paper at the age of 10.
Young Piaget’s godfather, Samuel Cornut, who himself was a scholar of
the time, fostered Piaget’s interest’s in philosophy and epistemology, the
cornerstone of his later works (Presnell, 1999). Piaget followed in his godfather’s footsteps
by becoming an active scholar and then received his Ph.D. in science at the early
age of 22, at which time he began to travel to further his studies. It was not until his work at Binet’s
laboratory in Paris (1919) did Piaget begin investigating the way children
reason. Although it was not until the
birth of his own children that his studies excelled, and he published his works
regarding the conception of children: The
Child’s Conception of the World (1926),--of Causality (1927), and Judgment
and Reasoning in the Child (1928).
Thus, it can be said although Piaget’s scholarly associations advanced
his techniques that his family, specifically his infant children, had
significant influence on the developmental growth of Jean Piaget as a
psychologist.
Theories
of Personality
The ability to define Piaget may lie within his personality;
however, ascertaining the patterns or traits of a psychologist whose life study
was the cognition of children, requires several viewpoints to truly understand
the uniqueness of the individual. First,
from a cognitive learning perspective, as defined by Albert Bandura (1925- ),
Piaget’s personality dispositions are the learned behaviors and emotional
reactions of his environment, who’s consequences form according to his beliefs,
expectations, and information processing (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Thus Piaget’s early achievements, notoriety,
and publications reinforced his beliefs that his work had meaning and therefore
through the continuation of his studies he would fulfill his expectations of
continued success in his chosen field. Another
school of thought is that of the humanistic perspective as defined by Carl
Rogers (1902-1987). Rogers, much like
Piaget, believed that although humans are basically good, interpersonal
experiences, especially those from early childhood interfere with his or her
personalities (Kowalski & Westen, 2011).
This person-centered approach to personality focuses on the phenomenal
experiences of an individual and through his or her ability to emphasize,
conceptualize, and idealize. With this
approach Piaget would have drawn on the naturalistic observations he obtained on
his parents (e.g., the neurotic behaviors of his mother and drive of his father)
in which to form an empathic understanding of the different temperaments of the
human mind. Furthermore, this empathic
view provided him with a positive self-concept as well as a view of his
ideal-self, engaging his actualizing tendency to fulfill the desire to focus on
human psychology with an emphasis on the cognitive development of children.
After viewing the patterns of Piaget’s own life and achievements,
it becomes easy to identify that the cognitive-social theoretical approach that
he himself worked on accurately depicts his own life. His psychological study of cognition includes
how one comes to know things. So it
should be of no surprise that although Piaget enjoyed numerous successes, his own
beginnings were set with turmoil that could have resulted in a lowering of his
self-efficacy expectancies to much different results. However, without Piaget’s methodological
combination of observation, evaluation, and examination the cognitive
development theories used throughout educational facilities today (e.g.,
concrete operational and formal operational stages of development) would not be
available. Thus, encouraging children,
of all ages, to look outside themselves to other people’s point of view in an
effort to accelerate personal growth and development, which is clearly
something Piaget himself did.
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