Jean Piaget was well known for adaptation, assimilation and accommodation. Although these terms are specific to his theory many individuals tend to overlook his other terms that are significant to his cognitive development theory. Piaget was interested in dreams, play and imitation. Some of his terms that are recognized but not as much as the three mentioned are: animism, egocentric, equilibration.
Have you ever heard anyone say that a child has a vivid imagination to be so young. Children often say things like “The sky is crying” or the moon is chasing me. Children also give characteristics to their toys. This imaginative thinking is what Piaget would define as animism. According to Piaget this occurs between the ages of 2-7 (Pre-operational stage) Animism can be compared to personification. Often times, personification is used in poetry and we are taught to use personification in writing, for example “the leaves dance in the wind.”
Egocentrism can be described as seeing things from someone else’s perspective. Children are in there own world when egocentrism. I found this interesting/ironic because some adults often have the issues seeing others perspective the even though they have surpassed the preoperational stage and understand that their actions and the actions of others are noticed.
Lastly, during equilibration child finds balance with the world around them and themselves. Equilibration is formally defined by Piaget as a combination of assimilation and accomodation. This is also described as a time when children adapt and begin to construct their own knowledge.
Animism-children believe and assign no human objects, human-like characteristics. (Usually occurs during the pre-operational stage)
Egocentric- the child has no concept of anyone else or the views of anyone else.
Equilibration -Piaget stated that as children grow or develop , balance is needed between assimilaiton and accommodation
You posted that egocentrism describes seeing from other point of view and then that it was focusing on oneself-can you clarify--Joanne
ReplyDeleteWith egocentrism, individuals feel that their personal perspective takes precedent over other things. As individuals mature they begin to understand the opinions and perspectives of others. I hope this helps a little. I was typing fast and it may appear as incorrect. -Ragan
ReplyDeleteI found the idea that children being described as having a vivid imagination while in certain stages interesting. Also the term "animism" was new to me. I can understand how these two terms would be related to one another in a child's development along with the idea that a child sometimes does not have conservation of thoughts and ideas. I wonder if the vast amount of cartoons and books for children which personify animals and inanimate creatures "pushes" the child towards animism and then when they learn information, for example that bears are not so cuddly and nice, that this cause disequilibrium. I suppose that the contrast between stories and real life could also extend a child's schema on bears, or animals in general. Very interesting points. Provides me with some new topics to think about while I write and interpret my observation write ups.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Joanne, I believe that Ragan clarified well and I would like to add that egocentrism is centered on the phenomena that the individual is unable to distinguish between one's personal perspective and another's. I think that a good example of this would be a 3 yr old boy who goes shopping for his mom and decides to buy a model car. While it may not appear to be a fitting gift for his mom, to him- this appears to be the perfect gift because it is something he himself likes.
ReplyDelete-Tahani
Very interesting points that you brought up L Taylor Cook. In a previous course I read about Montessori's teachings and that kind of "disequilibrium" when fantasy and real life didn't match up was. Based on their teachings, therefore, I think that both Piaget and Montessori would agree that definite sensitivity needs to be given in either restricting or promoting imagination in children. While it is ,like you said, an opportunity to extend schema in a very integrated way, play should continue to promote an equilibrium rather than a state of confusion or unsettling mismatch between fantasy and real life.
ReplyDelete-Tahani
Thank you for the clarification. I have been having first hand experience with children having difficulty when fantasy and real life do not match up. I think that in today's world we need to recognize the amount of fantasy that our children are exposed to and how they may not be able to adapt their schema to have a clear understanding of the meaning to what they are exposed.
ReplyDelete-Joanne