Unrecognized Genius of Jean Piaget
Kegan reflects on the work of Jean Piaget, emphasizing the importance of his work. He first looks at Kegan's most famous study, in which he fills two identically shaped beakers with equal amounts of water. He then asks the child whether or not they are of equal volume, and when the child agrees, he pours the contents into a thinner beaker. The child then has to decide which has more, and usually opts for the taller and thinner beaker. Kegan is pointing out the relative adaptive balance that is being made by the child. Children have their own perceptions of the physical world, and often have difficulty discerning relative differences in shapes and forms, among other things. Kegan purports that, "For the preoperational child, it is never just one's perceptions that change; rather, the world itself, as a consequence, changes" (29).
Kegan then goes on to explore the concrete child or mature, developed child (usually around ten years of age). He explains that at this stage of development, children are more interested in the limits of the world, and vast exploration of their environment. Kegan writes, "From our more evolved point-of-view we might say it is an exploration along a plane without recognition of the third dimension" (36). The concrete child has the ability to coordinate, and take empirical evidence and use it for equating similarities and differences. The concrete child has the ability to see processes, how they transpired, and how they can be reversed. Kegan writes, "This new subjectivity can now construe the world propositionally, hypothetically, inferentially, abstractly" (38).
These are observations initially made by Piaget that were so revolutionary in the analysis of mental and cognitive development. Kegan points out that Piaget's vision derives from a model of open-systems evolutionary biology. He writes, "Rather than locating the life force in the closed individual or the environmental press, it locates a prior context which continually elaborates the distinction between the individual and the environment in the first place" (43). In other words, when analyzing cognitive development, we need to focus not solely on the environment or brain, but rather on both as intertwining entities.
Piaget's framework was based around equilibration, or the ongoing conversation between the human and the world. This, Kegan notes, is a process of adaptation shaped by the tension between the assimilation of different experiences to inherent conceptions of the world. He says that while this process can be described as completely biological, it cannot be ignored that it is essentially grounded in experience. Our emotions: loss, recovery, anxiety, depression, and happiness, stem from action rather than biology.
Commentary:
Piaget's framework is very easy to relate to. While biology is certainly a key factor in our cognitive development, we also cannot ignore the importance of environment. We are raised according to culture, paradigms, and most importantly, the principles of those around us. We are not products of biology, but rather of experience. For example, I define my life by action. Everything that has been pivotal in my life has been some sort of experience. It is experience that produces my emotions, and most likely was the original developer of emotions.
There is kind of an ambiguity in that, biologically speaking, the individual can be separated from experience, but at the same time, it cannot. It really depends on the framework used to define cognitive development. If one chooses that of a biologist, he or she would have to opt against Piaget's vision, but if one chooses that of experience, he or she is conforming to his standards of development analysis.
As previously mentioned, I agree with Piaget's framework. Experience is the catalyst in our cognitive development. I almost think biology could play a very small degree in this. For example, different environments tend to produce different minds, as opposed to biology. Certainly, the chemical reactions of our mind have some influence on our thinking, but experience has to be the predominant source.
Chapter 2: The Evolution of Moral Meaning
This chapter begins with Kegan's analysis of both the sophistication and immaturity displayed by children presented with a moral story. The students showed an aptitude for feelings, especially those of good and bad. They recognized when the character in the story was happy, and when he was depressed. They instinctively knew that the former was better. They were able to put themselves in the characters mind in order to judge his feelings.
Human Development In order for me to provide my own personal view on human development and aging over the life span, I have provided a review of several key research theories pertaining to human development. My own personal model of human development is a hybrid of other prominent sociological theorists. Because it is important to consider the theoretical underpinnings of human development, I will incorporate a review of the scholarly research
In traded industries where there is fierce competition, it is not possible to pay men more than equally productive women -- every little disadvantage can be fatal to a company's survival. This means that gender equality emerges faster in these industries, as U.S. evidence shows. On virtually every criticism of globalization, one can find good, rather than bad, things to say. So globalization does have a human face. The
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