How Is Psychology Used In Everyday Life Essay Example For Students

How Is Psychology Used In Everyday Life Essay Piaget called the schema the basic building block of intelligent behavior – a way of organizing knowledge. Indeed, it is useful to think of schemas as â€Å"units† of knowledge, each relating to one aspect of the world, including objects, actions and abstract (i. e. theoretical) concepts. When a childs existing schemas are capable of explaining what it can perceive around it, it is said to be in a state of equilibrium, i. e. a state of cognitive (i. e. mental) balance. Piaget emphasized the importance of schemas in cognitive development, and described how they were developed or acquired. A schema can be defined as a set of linked mental representations of the world, which we use both to understand and to respond to situations. The assumption is that we store these mental representations and apply them when needed. For example, a person might have a schema about buying a meal in a restaurant. The schema is a stored form of the pattern of behavior which includes looking at a menu, ordering food, eating it and paying the bill. This is an example of a type of schema called a script. Whenever they are in a restaurant, they retrieve this schema from memory and apply it to the situation. The schemas Piaget described tend to be simpler than this especially those used by infants. He described how as a child gets older his or her schemas become more numerous and elaborate. The illustration (above) demonstrates a child developing a schema for a dog by assimilating information about the dog. The child then sees a cat, using accommodation compares existing knowledge of a dog to form a schema of a cat. Animation created by Daurice Grossniklaus and Bob Rodes (03/2002). Piaget believed that newborn babies have some innate schemas even before they have had much opportunity to experience the world. These neonatal schemas are the cognitive structures underlying innate reflexes. These reflexes are genetically programmed into us. For example babies have a sucking reflex, which is triggered by something touching the babys lips. A baby will suck a nipple, a comforter (dummy), or a persons finger. Piaget therefore assumed that the baby has a sucking schema. Similarly the grasping reflex which is elicited when something touches the palm of a babys hand, or the rooting reflex, in which a baby will turn its head towards something which touches its cheek, were assumed to result operations: for example shaking a rattle would be the combination of two schemas, grasping and shaking. Assimilation and Accommodation Jean Piaget viewed intellectual growth as a process of adaptation (adjustment) to the world. This happens through: Assimilation – Which is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation. Accommodation – This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation. Equilibration –This is the force, which moves development along. Piaget believed that cognitive development did not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps and bounds. Equilibrium is occurs when a childs schemas can deal with most new information through assimilation. However, an unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs when new information cannot be fitted into existing schemas (assimilation). Equilibration is the force which drives the learning process as we do not like to be frustrated and will seek to restore balance by mastering the new challenge (accommodation). Once the new information is acquired the process of assimilation with the new schema will continue until the next time we need to make an adjustment to it. Jean Piagets concept of adaptation Example of Assimilation A 2 year old child sees a man who is bald on top of his head and has long frizzy hair on the sides. To his father’s horror, the toddler shouts â€Å"Clown, clown† (Sigler et al. , 2003). Example of Accommodation In the â€Å"clown† incident, the boy’s father explained to his son that the man was not a clown and that even though his hair was like a clown’s, he wasn’t wearing a funny costume and wasn’t doing silly things to make people laugh With this new knowledge, the boy was able to change his schema of â€Å"clown† and make this idea fit better to a standard concept of â€Å"clown†. Stages of Development A childs cognitive development is about a child developing or constructing a mental model of the world. Imagine what it would be like if you did not have a mental model of your world. It would mean that you would not be able to make so much use of information from your past experience, or to plan future actions. Jean Piaget was interested both in how children learnt and in how they thought. Piaget studied children from infancy to adolescence, and carried out many of his own investigations using his three children. He used the following research methods: Naturalistic observation: Piaget made careful, detailed observations of children. These were mainly his own children and the children of friends. From these he wrote diary descriptions charting their development. Clinical interviews and observations of older children who were able to understand questions and hold conversations. Piaget believed that children think differently than adults and stated they go through 4 universal stages of cognitive development. Development is therefore biologically based and changes as the child matures. Cognition therefore develops in all children in the same sequence of stages. Each child goes through the stages in the same order, and no stage can be missed out although some individuals may never attain the later stages. Who really wrote shakespeare's work EssayPlay, dreams and imitation in childhood. London: Heinemann. Piaget, J. (1957). Construction of reality in the child. London: Routledge Kegan Paul. How to cite this article: McLeod, S. A. (2009). Jean Piaget | Cognitive Theory Simply Psychology. Retrieved from http://www. simplypsychology. org/piaget. html Further Information Sensorimotor Stage Preoperational Stage Concrete Operational Stage Formal Operational Stage Listen to a MIT Lecture: How Do Children Think? piaget audio clip Cognitive Development (Book Chapter) piaget pdf Piaget: Cognitive Development (Undergraduate Notes) piaget pdf Like The Site? Follow Us! print this page Comments (53) Sort by: Date Rating Last Activity +48 Nalin Danushkas avatar Nalin Danushka  · 112 weeks ago Information given in this site is more comprehensive and much useful for the researchers and rest of the academics who are studying on Piaget development theory. Report Reply +7 Masss avatar Mass  · 108 weeks ago I am writing an observation report on learning theory, and would be appreciative if you were willing to publish the references from which you took this information. Thanks. Report Reply 2 replies  · active 86 weeks ago +31 Staceys avatar Stacey  · 99 weeks ago I think thisi is absolutely amazing.. I had a lecture on this and i understood nothing.. i mean NOTHING.. within minutes of reading this I now have a rough idea of what the theory is about and i can relate it back to my lecture. Thank you ever so much. Report Reply +9 Viccis avatar Vicci  · 99 weeks ago Fantastic..!! Helped so much with my developmental psyc assignment.. Much Appreciated..!! Report Reply -4 Tori s avatar Tori  · 97 weeks ago Hi Saul, Im just completing some psychology coursework regarding information retrieval and would like to know your credentials? Many thanks Report Reply 2 replies  · active 97 weeks ago 3 s. js avatar s. j  · 97 weeks ago good job. very very helpful. Report Reply +2 Crystal Spearmans avatar Crystal Spearman  · 92 weeks ago The first stage that any human being goes through according to Piaget, is the schema stage. This is the foundation of where a child learns everything from. These building blocks are everything a child sees for the fir st time. The second stage is a transition stage in which the baby begins to associate schemas they have seen before to actual schemas. The last stage is four steps and each is a progression of applying the building blocks from which they originally started with. Piaget infers that adults minds come from their childhood schemas and the two minds are completely different. Piaget mainly deals with childrens minds and how they associate different things. Report Reply +6 Crystal Spearman s avatar Crystal Spearman  · 92 weeks ago Continued: Assimilation is when the child has seen something before and applies to the current situation. Association is where the child needs to decipher between what he or she has seen before and whether it matches what the child is seeing that instant. A schema is a learned idea in which babies acquire. Piagets ideas are more biased than others. He based these principles on his own children. He categorizes them based on their age. The ranges are from ages zero to 11 years and older. Everything stems from when a child is a baby. Parents have to be careful what they expose their children to as they may later on become bad habits or something parents wouldnt want their children doing. Piagets first stage of schema to the last stage of progression categorizes what children up to adults mainly become. The stages are pretty accurate. Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational are the last stages in Piagets theory. Kids begin understanding and using logic and reasoning for thinking skills. They are not all about concrete things but begin to have better reasoning and judgement skills as they are maturing. They begin to think beyond the realm of the normal and begin thinking more deeply and intuitively. Report Reply +12 Joyces avatar Joyce  · 91 weeks ago Thank you for this great site. I was struggling to find a plain English explanation of Piagets theories for my Forest School Leadership portfolio work. This has hit the spot. Report Reply -3 Rubis avatar Rubi  · 89 weeks ago Thank you this help me so much to understand Piaget in a simple way. Report Reply 12345Next  » Post a new comment Comment as a Guest, or login: Login to IntenseDebate Login to WordPress. com Login to Twitter Name Email Displayed next to your comments. Not displayed publicly. Submit Comment Subscribe to print this page Article Content Schemas Assimilation Accommodation Stages of Development Educational Implications Critical Evaluation References Related Articles Sensorimotor Stage Preoperational Stage Concrete Operational Stage Formal Operational Stage Vygotsky Bruner  © Simply Psychology > About | Privacy Policy | Links | A-Z Index | Home