Schools of Psychology - Slides
Content
Schools of Psychology
The various schools of psychology contribute a great deal to the establishment of educational concepts, theories, and principles.
Structuralism
- is founded by Wilhelm Wundt but was formally established by his student, Edward Titchener. - It focused on reducing mental processes down into their most basic elements. - science of conscious experience and that trained observers could accurately describe thoughts, feelings, and emotions through a process known as introspection.
Functionalism
- was heavily influenced by the work of William James and the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin. - It sought to explain the mental processes in a more systematic and accurate manner. - Rather than focusing on the elements of consciousness, functionalists focused on the purpose of consciousness and behavior. - also emphasized individual differences, which had a profound impact on education.
Behaviorism
- It was based upon the work of thinkers such as: John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner. - suggests that all behavior can be explained by environmental causes rather than by internal forces. - Behaviorism is focused on observable behavior. - Theories of learning including classical conditioning and operant conditioning were the focus of a great deal of research.
Gestalt Psychology
• Originating in the work of Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler • a school of thought that looks at the human mind and behavior as a whole. • Wertheimer summarizes it this way: "There are wholes, the behaviour of which is not determined by that of their individual elements, but where the part-processes are themselves determined by the intrinsic nature of the whole. It is the hope of Gestalt theory to determine the nature of such wholes" (1924).
Human Growth and Development
What is HUMAN DEVELOPMENT?
- refers to the changes that occur between conception and death. - however, it does not apply to all changes but only to those that appear in a certain order and that remain for a reasonably long period of time. - Any change that we experience that is transitory in nature, such as in the case of an illness, is not considered part of human development.
Characteristics of Human Development
Experts agree that human development has the following characteristics: 1. It is relatively orderly; for instance, children develop abilities in a logical sequence, such as developing the ability to say words before producing full sentences.
Characteristics of Human Development
2. It takes place gradually; children’s development does not happen overnight but rather over a relatively long period of time. 3. It may happen at different rates for different individuals; for example, in a typical classroom, some students will be more emotionally mature than others or will display higher cognitive skills than others.
Issues in Development
Two central issues have been debated for decades among developmental psychologists. One relates to the degree to which development is affected by experience, and the other to the question of whether development proceeds in stages.
1. Nature vs Nurture Controversy
Is development predetermined at birth, by heredity and biological factors, or is it affected by experience and other environmental factors? - Today, most developmental psychologists believe that nature and nurture combine to influence development, with biological factors playing a stronger role, some aspects, such as physical development, and environmental factors playing a stronger role in others, such as moral development.
2. Continuous and Discontinuous Theories
A second issue revolves around the notion on how change occurs.
• Continuous theories of development assume that development occurs in a smooth progression as skills develop and experiences are provided by parents and the environment. These put emphasis on importance of environment rather than heredity in determining development. • Discontinuous theories of development assumes that children progress through a set of predictable and invariant stages of development. They focus on inborn factors rather than environmental influences to explain change over time.
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
• Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget conducted a lifelong study of children’s cognitive development in the past half-century. • His research method consisted of observing children and adolescents in natural situations and asking them certain questions as they engaged in different cognitive tasks. • To examine how children’s thinking processes changed over time, Piaget conducted observations that were longitudinal in nature; that is, he followed the same children over a period of years.
Schemas
• Piaget believed that all children are born with an innate tendency to interact with and make sense of their environments. • As a child learns, he adds new information to what he already knows. His brain is continually reorganizing, adapting, and restructuring. • This elaborate network of organized information is called a schema.
For example, a young child may have the following schema for the alphabet:
Gradually, this schema becomes much more complex as the child learns the sounds for the letters, how to print or write cursive, which letters are vowels, and how to blend letter sounds to read words.
Each letter of the alphabet will have information attached to it. For example, a schema for the letter h might look like this:
Retrieved from http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/help-your-childsmemory-by-making-connections/
Assimilation, Accommodation, and Equilibration How do schemas develop over time? Piaget believed that children use two cognitive processes to develop their schemas over time: assimilation and accommodation.
Assimilation takes place when individuals use their existing schemas to make sense of the events in the world. It involves trying to relate something new to something that we already know.
Retrieved from http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/introduction-to-psychology/section_10_02.html
Accommodation, on the other hand, takes place when an individual changes an existing schema so that it can explain the new experience. This occurs when the new information does not fit well with our existing schemas, causing us to expand or elaborate on the older schema to make sense of the new information.
Retrieved from http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/introduction-to-psychology/section_10_02.html
According to Piaget, when a new information could not be fully handled by existing schemes, it creates a state of disequilibrium, or an imbalance between what is understood and what is encountered. People naturally try to reduce such imbalances by focusing on the stimuli that cause the disequilibrium and develop new schemes or adapting old ones until equilibrium is restored. This process of restoring balance is called Equilibration.
Retrieved from http://quizlet.com/10445680/psyc-lecture-9-t2-flash-cards/
Piaget's Stages of Development
Retrieved from http://educ613piaget.weebly.com/references.html
1. Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to Age 2)
Characterized by: Dependence of thinking processes and understanding on sensory and motor processing (e.g., tasting, touching, grasping). Goal-directed behavior. Object permanence arises at the end of the stage.
2. Preoperational Stage (age 2–7)
Characterized by: Reliance of thinking processes on perception more than logic. Use of symbols (e.g., language, numbers, images). Imaginary play, Animism, Egocentrism.
3. Concrete Operational Stage (Age 7-11)
Characterized by: Use of mental operations to solve problems. Conservation, transformation, reversibility, classification, seriation, transitivity
4. Formal Operational Stage (Age 11+)
Characterized by: Propositional logic. Hypothetical deductive reasoning. Analogical reasoning. Combinatorial reasoning. Probability and proportional reasoning.
Piaget’s Stages Of Cognitive Development And Cognitive Characteristics
Sensorimotor: Age 0–2 Preoperational: Age 2–7 Concrete operational: Age 7–11 Formal operational: Age 11+
• Dependence of thinking processes and understanding on • sensory and motor processing (e.g., tasting, touching, grasping) • Goal-directed behavior • Object permanence arises at the end of the stage
• Reliance of thinking processes on perception more than logic • Use of symbols (e.g., language, numbers, images) • Imaginary play, Animism • Egocentrism
• Use of mental operations to solve concrete problems • operational: 7–11 Conservation, transformation, reversibility • Classification, seriation, transitivity
• • • •
Propositional logic Hypothetical deductive reasoning Analogical reasoning, Combinatorial reasoning Probability and proportional reasoning
Suggestions for further reading:
• Educational Implications of Piaget's Theory • Neo-Piagetian and InformationProcessing Views of Development • Vygotsky’s View of Cognitive Development and its classroom applications
References
Calderon, J (2003). Foundations of Education. Manila: Rex Bookstore, Inc. Cherry, K. (n.d). Major Schools of Thought in Psychology. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/schoolsthought.htm Moreno, R. (2010). Educational psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Slavin, R. (2006). Educational psychology: theory and practice (8th ed). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Video References
• Youtube videos
Sensorimotor Stage (slides 22/23) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alZXoALQJr4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjBh9ld_yIo Preoperational Stage (slides 24/25) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eZJorPIlk4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M244b2aDcz8 Concrete Operational Stage (slides 26/27) www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mTnAlOTMwc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alZXoALQJr4 Formal Operational stage (slides 28/29) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X4qGp4R5cs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9BoAn9lRqE
The various schools of psychology contribute a great deal to the establishment of educational concepts, theories, and principles.
Structuralism
- is founded by Wilhelm Wundt but was formally established by his student, Edward Titchener. - It focused on reducing mental processes down into their most basic elements. - science of conscious experience and that trained observers could accurately describe thoughts, feelings, and emotions through a process known as introspection.
Functionalism
- was heavily influenced by the work of William James and the theory of evolution of Charles Darwin. - It sought to explain the mental processes in a more systematic and accurate manner. - Rather than focusing on the elements of consciousness, functionalists focused on the purpose of consciousness and behavior. - also emphasized individual differences, which had a profound impact on education.
Behaviorism
- It was based upon the work of thinkers such as: John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner. - suggests that all behavior can be explained by environmental causes rather than by internal forces. - Behaviorism is focused on observable behavior. - Theories of learning including classical conditioning and operant conditioning were the focus of a great deal of research.
Gestalt Psychology
• Originating in the work of Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler • a school of thought that looks at the human mind and behavior as a whole. • Wertheimer summarizes it this way: "There are wholes, the behaviour of which is not determined by that of their individual elements, but where the part-processes are themselves determined by the intrinsic nature of the whole. It is the hope of Gestalt theory to determine the nature of such wholes" (1924).
Human Growth and Development
What is HUMAN DEVELOPMENT?
- refers to the changes that occur between conception and death. - however, it does not apply to all changes but only to those that appear in a certain order and that remain for a reasonably long period of time. - Any change that we experience that is transitory in nature, such as in the case of an illness, is not considered part of human development.
Characteristics of Human Development
Experts agree that human development has the following characteristics: 1. It is relatively orderly; for instance, children develop abilities in a logical sequence, such as developing the ability to say words before producing full sentences.
Characteristics of Human Development
2. It takes place gradually; children’s development does not happen overnight but rather over a relatively long period of time. 3. It may happen at different rates for different individuals; for example, in a typical classroom, some students will be more emotionally mature than others or will display higher cognitive skills than others.
Issues in Development
Two central issues have been debated for decades among developmental psychologists. One relates to the degree to which development is affected by experience, and the other to the question of whether development proceeds in stages.
1. Nature vs Nurture Controversy
Is development predetermined at birth, by heredity and biological factors, or is it affected by experience and other environmental factors? - Today, most developmental psychologists believe that nature and nurture combine to influence development, with biological factors playing a stronger role, some aspects, such as physical development, and environmental factors playing a stronger role in others, such as moral development.
2. Continuous and Discontinuous Theories
A second issue revolves around the notion on how change occurs.
• Continuous theories of development assume that development occurs in a smooth progression as skills develop and experiences are provided by parents and the environment. These put emphasis on importance of environment rather than heredity in determining development. • Discontinuous theories of development assumes that children progress through a set of predictable and invariant stages of development. They focus on inborn factors rather than environmental influences to explain change over time.
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
• Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget conducted a lifelong study of children’s cognitive development in the past half-century. • His research method consisted of observing children and adolescents in natural situations and asking them certain questions as they engaged in different cognitive tasks. • To examine how children’s thinking processes changed over time, Piaget conducted observations that were longitudinal in nature; that is, he followed the same children over a period of years.
Schemas
• Piaget believed that all children are born with an innate tendency to interact with and make sense of their environments. • As a child learns, he adds new information to what he already knows. His brain is continually reorganizing, adapting, and restructuring. • This elaborate network of organized information is called a schema.
For example, a young child may have the following schema for the alphabet:
Gradually, this schema becomes much more complex as the child learns the sounds for the letters, how to print or write cursive, which letters are vowels, and how to blend letter sounds to read words.
Each letter of the alphabet will have information attached to it. For example, a schema for the letter h might look like this:
Retrieved from http://www.allaboutlearningpress.com/help-your-childsmemory-by-making-connections/
Assimilation, Accommodation, and Equilibration How do schemas develop over time? Piaget believed that children use two cognitive processes to develop their schemas over time: assimilation and accommodation.
Assimilation takes place when individuals use their existing schemas to make sense of the events in the world. It involves trying to relate something new to something that we already know.
Retrieved from http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/introduction-to-psychology/section_10_02.html
Accommodation, on the other hand, takes place when an individual changes an existing schema so that it can explain the new experience. This occurs when the new information does not fit well with our existing schemas, causing us to expand or elaborate on the older schema to make sense of the new information.
Retrieved from http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/introduction-to-psychology/section_10_02.html
According to Piaget, when a new information could not be fully handled by existing schemes, it creates a state of disequilibrium, or an imbalance between what is understood and what is encountered. People naturally try to reduce such imbalances by focusing on the stimuli that cause the disequilibrium and develop new schemes or adapting old ones until equilibrium is restored. This process of restoring balance is called Equilibration.
Retrieved from http://quizlet.com/10445680/psyc-lecture-9-t2-flash-cards/
Piaget's Stages of Development
Retrieved from http://educ613piaget.weebly.com/references.html
1. Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to Age 2)
Characterized by: Dependence of thinking processes and understanding on sensory and motor processing (e.g., tasting, touching, grasping). Goal-directed behavior. Object permanence arises at the end of the stage.
2. Preoperational Stage (age 2–7)
Characterized by: Reliance of thinking processes on perception more than logic. Use of symbols (e.g., language, numbers, images). Imaginary play, Animism, Egocentrism.
3. Concrete Operational Stage (Age 7-11)
Characterized by: Use of mental operations to solve problems. Conservation, transformation, reversibility, classification, seriation, transitivity
4. Formal Operational Stage (Age 11+)
Characterized by: Propositional logic. Hypothetical deductive reasoning. Analogical reasoning. Combinatorial reasoning. Probability and proportional reasoning.
Piaget’s Stages Of Cognitive Development And Cognitive Characteristics
Sensorimotor: Age 0–2 Preoperational: Age 2–7 Concrete operational: Age 7–11 Formal operational: Age 11+
• Dependence of thinking processes and understanding on • sensory and motor processing (e.g., tasting, touching, grasping) • Goal-directed behavior • Object permanence arises at the end of the stage
• Reliance of thinking processes on perception more than logic • Use of symbols (e.g., language, numbers, images) • Imaginary play, Animism • Egocentrism
• Use of mental operations to solve concrete problems • operational: 7–11 Conservation, transformation, reversibility • Classification, seriation, transitivity
• • • •
Propositional logic Hypothetical deductive reasoning Analogical reasoning, Combinatorial reasoning Probability and proportional reasoning
Suggestions for further reading:
• Educational Implications of Piaget's Theory • Neo-Piagetian and InformationProcessing Views of Development • Vygotsky’s View of Cognitive Development and its classroom applications
References
Calderon, J (2003). Foundations of Education. Manila: Rex Bookstore, Inc. Cherry, K. (n.d). Major Schools of Thought in Psychology. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/schoolsthought.htm Moreno, R. (2010). Educational psychology. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Slavin, R. (2006). Educational psychology: theory and practice (8th ed). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Video References
• Youtube videos
Sensorimotor Stage (slides 22/23) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alZXoALQJr4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjBh9ld_yIo Preoperational Stage (slides 24/25) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eZJorPIlk4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M244b2aDcz8 Concrete Operational Stage (slides 26/27) www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mTnAlOTMwc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alZXoALQJr4 Formal Operational stage (slides 28/29) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X4qGp4R5cs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9BoAn9lRqE
