Piaget

One of the most important developmental stages children progress through and one of which we sometimes take for granted, is learning to speak language.  Children begin to speak not long after they are born and continue to develop this highly complex skill to communicate. Children are very intelligent; in fact most children can speak before walking and master many language elements in infancy (Sigelman & Rider, 2009)

In this essay I describe my own developmental experience of learning to speak a language and provide an overview of two well-known developmental theories, J.Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental theory and Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, approaches to human development.  These two approaches I have analysed in relation to my developmental milestone.

Both theorists explain human development occurs through an interaction of ‘Nature/Nurture’, a well debated concept after overwhelming research showed people are not born a ‘blank slate’ as once believed, shaped entirely by the environment, but genes are inherited through parents which then interact with the environment, making humanity a product of both biological and environmental factors (Bandura, 1989, Huitt & Hummel, 2003).

I explain differences between the two theorists, both of which contribute well-researched experimental and scientific work in lifespan development and my essay concludes that when learning language the environment influenced me more than a biological predisposition.  Ultimately my research shows environment has the largest impact on how well and how soon people learn to communicate through language.

Defining the scope of sport psychology requires an updated understanding of the relationship between “body” and “mind” within the framework of cognitive science.
Embodied cognition theory offers a new approach to this relationship, one that rejects the assumptions of classical cognitivism and emphasizes the idea that mental functions are shaped by the material and temporal details of their bodily implementation. This theory resonates deeply with influential doctrines in developmental psychology and ecological psychology that paved the way to the foundation of sport psychology. The strong theoretical link between ecological approach and embodied mind theory is testified by the preeminence of Gibson’s notion of affordance in many of the chapters included in this collection. Sport psychology research has always dwelled on the themes, the notions, and the models of embodied cognition theory. Embodied cognition, in turn, has often found the most striking confirmations of its theoretical claims in the psychological accounts of sport performance and athletic skill. Due to the communal theoretical root of these two disciplines, an explicit integration of their respective philosophies would allow them to share a mutually beneficial experience of scientific investigation and critical reflection while affirming their irreducible specificity and their distinctive backgrounds.

Neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development emerged as attempts to preserve core theoretical and empirically supported aspects of Jean Piaget's seminal theory of intellectual development while addressing criticisms leveled against the theory. Neo-Piagetian theories preserve three basic ideas from Piaget's theory: (1) the unit of cognitive analysis is the scheme or psychological structure; (2) psychological structures undergo qualitative transformation over time; and (3) higher order structures develop through the differentiation and coordination of lower level structures. After a brief discussion of similarities and differences among prominent neo-Piagetian theories, one representative approach (dynamic skill theory) is discussed in depth. The discussion concludes with a description of recent advances in neo-Piagetian systems theory.

Tese de Livre-Docência defendida no Concurso Público para obtenção do título de Livre-Docente em Lógica, Teoria do Conhecimento e Filosofia da Ciência, na Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências da UNESP. A Tese sistematiza alguns dos resultados de meus estudos e pesquisas desde 2014 a 2014.

En este libro se argumenta que el Yo no es una ilusión y que se desarrolla cognitiva-afectivamente en su relación con el exterior; pero que no es tan libre como se argumenta en la actualidad, por la ideología del individualismo. El Yo interactúa con la situación específica y se redefine en función de la misma, de modo que es flexible y cambiante. Y bajo ciertas condiciones surge un Yo colectivo que anula las características psicológi- cas de los distintos Yos ́ individuales, y que define la conducta social. Así que la situación define, a veces parcial y a veces totalmente, la conducta del Yo, de modo que no es tan libre. Hay Yos ́ más manipulables y otros menos. La historia de pertenencia del infante es decisiva en la seguridad de la personalidad del adulto. La libertad psicológica tiene que ver mucho con la calidad de la relación emocional que recibimos de nuestra madre los primeros doce meses.

Chapter 3 of the book Arievitch, I. M. (2017). "Beyond the Brain: An Agentive Activity Perspective on Mind, Development, and Learning". Rotterdam/Boston: Sense Publishers.
The book outlines a fundamental alternative to the rising wave of aggressive biological reductionism and brainism in contemporary psychology and education. It offers steps to achieving a daunting and elusive goal: constructing a coherently non-reductionist account of the mind. The main obstacle to such a construction is identified as the centuries-old contemplative fallacy that leads to entrenched dualisms and shackles major theoretical frameworks. The alternative agentive activity perspective overcomes this fallacy by advancing the core principles of the cultural-historical activity theory. This innovative perspective charts a consistently non-mentalist and non-individualist view of psychological processes without discarding the individual mind. A vast body of research and theories, from Piaget and Dewey to sociocultural and embodied cognition approaches are critically engaged, with a special focus on Piotr Galperin’s contribution. The notion of the embodied agent’s object-directed activity serves as a pivotal point for re-conceptualizing the mind and its role in behavior. In a radical departure from both the traditional mentalist and biologically reductionist frameworks, psychological processes are understood as taking place “beyond the brain” – as constituted by the agent’s activities in the world.  From this standpoint, many of Vygotsky’s key insights, including semiotic mediation, internalization, and cognitive tools are given a fresh scrutiny and substantially revised. The agentive activity perspective opens ways to offer a bold vision for education: developmental teaching and learning built on the premise that real knowledge is not “information storage and retrieval” and that education is not about “knowledge transmission” but instead it is about developing students’ minds.
Publisher’s product page with Table of Contents and free preview of Chapter 1 (Introduction): https://www.sensepublishers.com/catalogs/bookseries/bold-visions-in-educational-research/beyond-the-brain/

The article presents an almost unfamiliar idea of Piaget. Starting from his critical reflections upon the genesis of the specific conceptions in children towards the “attachment to the homeland” and the openness to the foreigners, Piaget discusses how it may be possible to develop in the future progressives forms of identity and reciprocity which can support the attitudes of being open to the other. With his studies, carried out between 1921 and 1925, Piaget deepened the topic of the relationship about the moral and the intellectual education, evidencing that an attitude of great openness towards the other must lead to overcome the child's egocentrism through a gradual process of decentralization. Piaget anticipates therefore current discussions about alterity.

En octubre de 1975 tuvo lugar el famoso debate efectuado entre Jean Piaget y Noam Chomsky en el castillo de Royaumont, Paris. Cuarenta y un años después de este suceso, resulta interesante recuperar parte de lo discutido en aquel entonces a la luz de las investigaciones posteriores desplegadas dentro del campo de la Gramática Generativa y la Teoría del Desarrollo en lo que respecta al vínculo entre el pensamiento y el lenguaje. Es así que se pondrán en discusión los aportes de la Gramática Generativa de Chomsky-junto con las ideas de Jerry Fodor-y la Teoría del Desarrollo –encarnándose en la perspectiva neo-piagetiana de Annette Karmiloff-Smith. Dos tipos de perspectivas que intentan saldar, a su manera, la dicotomía analítica «mente/cuerpo» que inaugura Descartes y que ha atravesado el abordaje teórico de la relación «lenguaje-pensamiento». En consecuencia, el tratamiento que cada uno de estos autores le otorgue a esta problemática, también formará parte del recorrido propuesto por este trabajo.

Abstract

In October 1975 took place the famous discussion between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky in the castle of Royaumont, Paris. Forty years after this event, it is interesting to recover some of what was discussed at that time in the light of further research deployed in the field of genera-tive grammar and the Theory of Development with regard to the link between thought and language. So, we will put under discussion the contributions of Chomsky's generative grammar-along with the ideas of Jerry Fodor-and the Theory of Development –from the neo-piagetian perspective of Annette Karmiloff-Smith. Two types of prospects who try to settle in their own way, the analytical dichotomy "mind / body" which was opened by Descartes and has crossed the theoretical approach of "language-thought" relationship. Consequently, the treatment that each of these authors granted to this problem, form part of this work.

Chapter 5 of the book Arievitch, I. M. (2017). "Beyond the Brain: An Agentive Activity Perspective on Mind, Development, and Learning". Rotterdam/Boston: Sense Publishers.
The book outlines a fundamental alternative to the rising wave of aggressive biological reductionism and brainism in contemporary psychology and education. It offers steps to achieving a daunting and elusive goal: constructing a coherently non-reductionist account of the mind. The main obstacle to such a construction is identified as the centuries-old contemplative fallacy that leads to entrenched dualisms and shackles major theoretical frameworks. The alternative agentive activity perspective overcomes this fallacy by advancing the core principles of the cultural-historical activity theory. This innovative perspective charts a consistently non-mentalist and non-individualist view of psychological processes without discarding the individual mind. A vast body of research and theories, from Piaget and Dewey to sociocultural and embodied cognition approaches are critically engaged, with a special focus on Piotr Galperin’s contribution. The notion of the embodied agent’s object-directed activity serves as a pivotal point for re-conceptualizing the mind and its role in behavior. In a radical departure from both the traditional mentalist and biologically reductionist frameworks, psychological processes are understood as taking place “beyond the brain” – as constituted by the agent’s activities in the world.  From this standpoint, many of Vygotsky’s key insights, including semiotic mediation, internalization, and cognitive tools are given a fresh scrutiny and substantially revised. The agentive activity perspective opens ways to offer a bold vision for education: developmental teaching and learning built on the premise that real knowledge is not “information storage and retrieval” and that education is not about “knowledge transmission” but instead it is about developing students’ minds.
Publisher’s product page with Table of Contents and free preview of Chapter 1 (Introduction): https://www.sensepublishers.com/catalogs/bookseries/bold-visions-in-educational-research/beyond-the-brain/

In this article I argue for an epistemology of music, stating that
dealing with music can be considered as a process of knowledge acquisition. What really matters is not the representation of an ontological musical reality, but the generation of music knowledge as a tool for adaptation to the sonic world. In order to do this, I have brough ttogether the epistemological claims of Jean Piaget, the biological methodology of Jakob von Uexküll, and the constructivistic conceptions of Ernst von Glasersfeld, stressing the role of the music user rather than the music. Dealing with music, in fact, is not a representational a€air, but is a process of semiotization of the sonorous environment that is the outcome of interactions with the sound. Hence the role of enactive cognition and perceptual-motor interaction with the sonic environment.
What I consider to be a central issue is the way how listeners as
subjects experience their own phenomenal world or Umwelt, and how they can make sense out of their sonic environment. Umwelt-research therefore is highly relevant for music education in stressing the role of the listener and his listening strategies.

Mascolo, M. F. & Fischer, K. W. (2008).  Developmental psychology: Unified theories.  To appear in Jantzen, (Ed.) Disability, Education and Participation (Behinderung, Bildung, Partizipation), Volume 7, Developmental and Learning (Entwicklung und Lernen) (Volume Editor, G. Feuser).  Stuttgart, Germany: Kohlhammer-Verlag (in German).

Livro que aborda vários temas no âmbito da Psicologia da Educação: as teorias desenvolvimentistas de Piaget e Vygotsky, o desenvolvimento do raciocínio moral, o desenvolvimento psicossocial do adolescente, as principais teorias da aprendizagem e da instrução e ainda estratégias de aprendigem, indisciplina na sala de aula, transferência de conhecimentos...

How is it possible to introduce a notion of Reality as Totality that is conso- nant with the continuous development of contemporary science? To answer this question, we introduce in this chapter the notion of Reality-Totality. We argue in favor of the view that Reality as a Totality may be conceived as active and living Knowledge: the self-exposing Idea that self-exposes itself to us by a self- organizing process of which our knowledge process itself is part. The view we argue for is of a metaphysical nature, and it elaborates on the methodological character of the study of the Self-Organization. We show that this philosophi- cal view emerges from some general reflections on the constitution of scientific knowledge, providing elements that make possible the structuring and coordina- tion of various scientific contents and methods.
Our exposition begins with a discussion of the epistemological analysis of Gilles-Gaston Granger (1920–2016), and the genetic epistemology and psychol- ogy of Jean Piaget (1896–1980) and his coworkers. We then proceed to an anal- ysis that leads us to the notion of Reality-Totality and its properties. At the conclusion of the chapter, it will be seen that the view presented here is a new form of absolute speculative idealism, close to the philosophical view of Georg W. F. Hegel (1770–1831).

A presente pesquisa explora o tema da criatividade ao longo da trajetória intelectual de Piaget e Vigotski. Trata-se de um estudo teórico no qual foi utilizada a análise comparativa como procedimento metodológico. A evolução do problema da criatividade ao longo de suas obras e a síntese conceitual extraída das formulações permite a defesa de três argumentos fundamentais: a) a ocorrência de autocrítica que os levou a uma reformulação em suas teorias, com repercussão para o tema da criatividade; b) a concordância sobre a criação como um problema das idades psicológicas; e c) a discordância quanto ao papel da linguagem para a originalidade criativa. A reformulação teórica feita por Piaget se deu logo no início de sua carreira e consistiu no rebaixamento da importância da linguagem para a origem da atividade intelectual e criativa. Desde então, o acontecimento psicológico que explica a originalidade deixa de contar com a participação diretiva e decisiva de algo externo ao próprio mecanismo de adaptação da vida. Embora em seus últimos trabalhos reconheça as iniciativas engenhosas conquistadas pelo pensamento lógico-formal na idade da adolescência, Piaget entende que o processo funcional e biopsíquico de equilibração, alimentado pelas ações do sujeito, possui maior força explicativa para a compreensão da originalidade, que é a principal característica da criação. Já a autocrítica realizada por Vigotski o levou a explicar a criação, em seus últimos trabalhos, no interior da dinâmica psicológica das idades, defendendo a ideia de que a imaginação criativa é uma neoformação, um produto de saltos qualitativos do desenvolvimento que é impulsionado e orientado pela situação social. Segundo essa abordagem, a adolescência é a idade psicológica em que ocorre a integração de forma consciente dos interesses, do desenvolvimento intelectual e da fantasia. Para Vigotski, apenas com essa conexão se inaugura a autêntica originalidade criativa.

Nosso trabalho tem por objetivo mostrar que a noção de espaço-tempo da Teoria da Relatividade Restrita pode ser explicada por meio das operações que o sujeito realiza sobre símbolos e signos de acordo com o Modelo do Sistema de Esquema de Ações e Operações sobre Símbolos e Signos (MoSEAOSS), idealizado por Ricardo P. Tassinari como uma sistematização dos resultados teóricos e experimentais da Epistemologia Genética e da Psicologia Genética de Jean Piaget e seus colaboradores. Nesse sentido: apresentamos os dois postulados da Teoria da Relatividade Restrita, o Princípio da Relatividade e o Princípio da Constância da Velocidade da Luz; mostramos, por meio de um experimento de pensamento proposto por Albert Einstein, as consequências diretamente relacionadas à diferença de medidas de intervalos de tempo em diferentes referenciais; apresentamos o Modelo do Sistema de Esquema de Ações e Operações sobre Símbolos e Signos, em especial, os conceitos de transfiguração, as ações interiorizadas exercidas pelo sujeito sobre imagens mentais, e de transignação, ações interiorizadas exercidas sobre signos; e mostramos que as ressignificações de espaço e tempo da Teoria da Relatividade Restrita podem ser compreendidas como acomodações, isto é, como alterações do sistema de esquemas de ações e operações sobre símbolos e signos, para o sujeito melhor assimilar os objetos e situações. Segundo Piaget, a assimilação e a acomodação são dois aspectos indissociáveis da adaptação do sujeito ao meio, isto é, da capacidade do sujeito em modificar-se e modificar o meio no qual está inserido de maneira a favorecer sua conservação, que resulta na construção de sucessivos estágios no desenvolvimento cognitivo.

Using a dual neurocognitive systems framework, Piaget’s ideas are elaborated to allow for executive processes and post formal thinking. Developing imagination, emotional expression, and creativity through the ‘arts’ should not be seen as educational luxuries that are to be argued for in terms of philosophical ideals, rather, they should be seen as important for mental health, and essential aspects of nurturing the psyche in accordance with its evolving biological nature.

No clear relationships have been drawn between Piaget’s concept of formal operation reasoning and neuropsychological models of brain function such as left-right hemisphere specialization.  At least one popular science educator suggests that formal reasoning is solely a left-hemisphere function and fails to tap aptitudes for right hemisphere intuitive and metaphoric thought.  On the other hand, Piaget’s writings describe the “structured whole” and the need for “all possibilities” in a way that suggests that formal reasoning indeed requires right as well as left hemisphere functions.
An EEG alpha coherence index of F3F4 + F3C3 + F4C4 - O1O2 (FLR-O index) was measured on 58 college students during a “standard cognitive state,” Transcendental Meditation (TM). Greater mean FLR-O indexes were found for groups scored formal on three clinically administered tasks: Shadows (testing for quantitative proportional reasoning), Correlations, and Chemicals Combinations. The group scored formal on the Communicating Vessels tasks, a test of the INRC group schema, demonstrated significantly greater (p ≤ .05) FLR-O index than the non-formal group. As expected,  significantly more males passed the Shadows task than females.  Surprisingly, no significant interaction was found between gender and task on the FLR-O index or any of the individual derivations.
These results give weak but positive support for the hypothesis. However, additional support was found when studying the neuropsychological correlates of a formal operational “stage.” Subjects failing all four tasks were considered to lack the logical relations characteristic of the formal stage. Fail group subjects measured less on the FLR-O index than subjects who passed at least one of the tasks (p = .0558, and p = .050 when adjusted for age and gender). These results lend credence to the hypothesis that formal reasoning is a “whole-brain” activity.
In a speculating on neuropsychological theory of equilibration and development of formal reasoning, I suggest that improvement in frontal executive control enhances pre-attentive orientation towards a task and simultaneous pre-attentive habituation to distraction. This dual process supports accomodation and permits the cycle of differentiation and integration to continue unimpeded leading, ultimately, to formal operational reasoning. I suggest that EEG alpha anterior coherence represents temporal and spatial coordination that supports improved information transfer and global brain functioning.

I summarise Robert Audi's 'Moral Perception.' I concede that there is such a thing as moral perception. However, moral perceptions are culturally-relative, which refutes Audi’s claims that moral perception may ground moral knowledge and that it provides inter-subjectively accessible grounds which make ethical objectivity possible. Audi's attempt to avoid the refutation tends to convert rational disputes into ad hominem ones. I illustrate that with the example of the ethics of prostitution.

Illeris (2007) and Carey (2014) have both published books titled "How We Learn".  I reflect on my own EAL teaching practices, compare and contrast the research of Illeris and Cary, and then blend their suggestions into an example EAL grammar lesson.

This essay examines the relevance of dialectical psychology to theories of knowledge. I suggest that there are philosophical roots to the issues and arguments presented in developmental and dialectical psychology. These roots hearken back to the most basic of epistemological questions: The mind’s development in the world, and the limits and interconnectedness of all human knowledge. I begin by comparing Jean Piaget’s developmental epistemology to Kant’s critical project. I claim that Hegel’s critique of Kant is repeated in a new form through Klaus Riegel’s critique of Piaget. Furthermore, this critique opened the door for a new advance in dialectical thinking in the form of dialectical psychology. However, dialectical psychology is only a moment in a larger philosophical project to see the unity of all human knowledge and development.

Piaget postula que toda actividad de aprendizaje y proceso
intelectual se encuentran fundamentados en la acción;
el conocer solo es posible a través de la interacción entre
la mente consciente y el mundo. Así, los seres humanos
se autoconstruyen y se adaptan, dando como resultado
una capacidad de comprensión, producto de un interés,
que abarca tanto la afectividad como su nivel de entendimiento.

El constructivismo, como marco epistemológico y pedagógico, asume que el ser que aprende es integral y que sus competencias sociales y afectivas influyen en sus procesos de conocer. Desde este entendido, el aprendizaje situado revaloriza lo cotidiano y contextual, en tanto concibe
que el conocer solo es posible en un tejido de significados
compartidos.

There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new system. The innovator has the enmity of all who profit by the preservation of the old system and only lukewarm defenders by those who would gain by the new system.
In the first part of “The origin of time” the concept of time was reduced to its essence.
In this second part, we take it a step further, proving there is a link between the evolutionary origin of time and the origination of the first digits, the onset of speech and where these two new concepts initiate the development of mathematics and language(s). At the same time the “observer” arrived on the scene and gave rise to a fourth anthropic principle which complements the three already existing anthropic principles
A third part will be added later, to  establish a link between the concept of time and the physical units.

Resumo Por que teorias filosóficas parecem ser tão reais aos filósofos que as propõem? Por que, mesmo se apresentando como reais aos seus autores, existe uma grande diversidade de teorias filosóficas? Quais seriam, pelo menos em linhas gerais, as estruturas necessárias ao conhecimento filosófico? Na medida em que a Epistemologia Genética se constitui como uma teoria do conhecimento que estuda as estruturas necessárias ao conhecimento, seria importante que, a partir dos estudos e pesquisas nessa área, buscasse-se responder a tais questões. O objetivo deste artigo é discutir, em linhas gerais, como o Modelo do Sistema de Esquemas de Operações sobre Símbolos e Signos (MoSEAOSS), introduzido por Tassinari (2014), explica a possibilidade do conhecimento filosófico e, nesse sentido, responder a tais questões. O MoSEAOSS foi elaborado a partir de alguns dos principais resultados teóricos e experimentais a que chegaram Jean Piaget, suas colaboradoras e seus colaboradores, articulando-os em uma visão sistêmica, sistemática e sintética. Trata-se aqui de uma discussão teórica envolvendo os conceitos fundamentais do MoSEAOSS e resultados das Epistemologia e Psicologia Genéticas. Mediantes as razões apresentadas a partir do MoSEAOSS, mostra-se que sempre existe a possibilidade de uma grande diversidade de teorias filosóficas e cada uma delas aparenta ser real ao filósofo que a propõe. A razão principal é que a coordenação de seus esquemas de ações e operações sobre símbolos e signos constituem o real para ele, ou ainda, as diversas teorias filosóficas determinam operações sobre signos (envolvendo significações teóricas) que coordenam os esquemas de operações sobre símbolos (em especial, sobre imagens mentais), regulando as possibilidades de imaginação, e, consequentemente, as possibilidades dos comportamentos atribuídos aos objetos e às suas próprias ações. Conclui-se, pois, que o sistema de esquemas de ações e operações sobre símbolos e signos se constitui em uma estrutura necessária, não apenas ao conhecimento científico, mas também ao fazer e conhecer filosóficos. Por fim, os resultados obtidos possibilitam introduzir a descentração epistêmica como à visão filosófica que compreende e explica a existência de diversas teorias e visões filosóficas e científicas possíveis, bem como de diferentes realidades, construídas devido a elas. Nesse sentido, a descentração epistêmica se mostra como um estágio superior das formas de compreensão do real e, seria o cume das diversas formas de descentrações estabelecidas por Piaget, suas colaborado- ras e seus colaboradores.