Kieran Egan's "What Does Piaget's Theory Describe?

Kieran Egan's "What Does Piaget's Theory Describe?" answers the title question by unearthing an increasing amount of data which cannot be accounted for by Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Because one of the very weakest and least supported parts of Piaget's theory has had the greatest impact on education, Egan considers it most important to set the record straight. The Piagetians' assertion--that cognitive development is dependant upon the successful fulfillment of sequentially complex developmental tasks which are resistant to learning--has had a great impact on education because it is quite specific with regard to what a child can or cannot do at any particular developmental level. In other words, to the Piagetians, it is futile to teach the principle of conservation to a child who is in a pre-operational stage.

Egan is skeptical but objective in his attempt to find what Piaget's theory really describes. He claims that he may be somewhat biased because he is a non-psychologist looking at a psychological theory, not through the language of the theory, but rather through the data, into the theory. The irony in his comment about being biased is apparent in his determination to test all empirical evidence as a scientist does, by applying a theory to different situations, putting it in a different context, or seeing behaviour, not through the language of theory, but as behaviour unimpeded by theoretical preconceptions. It is to Egan's credibility that he, a non-p

Related Essays

Desktop Publishing Desktop publishing refers to .... the production of every category of color publishing, from simple business presentations to glitzy fashion magazines and everything in between (Kieran, 1991, .... (2512 10 )

Summary of Four Cases .... action against the ski area? 2) Does Connecticut extend the doctrine of Jaworski v. Kieran to skiing? In that case, the state supreme .... (2060 8 )

CHIAPAS Revolt in Mexico .... 1988). Politics among nations: The struggle for power and peace, 8th ed. New York: Knopf. Murray, Kieran. (1994, November 18). Tabasco .... (1724 7 )

Sports Activity of Women The purpose of this research is t .... Johnson, WO, Jr. (1972) All that glitters. New York: Putnam, 1972. Kieran, J. and Daley, A. (1973). The story of the Olympic Games, 776 BC to 1972. Rev. .... (3419 14 )

swered correctly. McGarrigle then asked, "Are there more black cows or sleeping cows?" to which almost half of the children answered correctly. The second question supplied an emphasis, inherent in the distinction, "sleeping." The detailed account of McGarrigle's experiment is included to show Egan's commonsense approach to a psychological theory that has held an undue influence on education for too long. Far from a major theoretical breakthrough, McGarrigle just demonstrated that language, that is to say, the way a question is asked, can influence a children (or adult's) response. In the same manner that most adults quickly read the optical illusion, "Once upon upon a time" as "Once upon a time," (if you want to see how this works, write it on paper in the following order, with capital letters: first line--"ONCE," second line--"UPON," third line--"UPON," fourth line--"A,"--fifth line--"TIME"), perhaps children, like adults, anticipate an answer, thus displaying a quick and automatic, but logical, response. Isn't it more reasonable (or practical) to compare quantities of two distinct sorts--those quantities of red and white, or those quantities of black cows and sleeping cows, than it is to compare a subset to a whole set

Category: History - K