Learning is the process by which the human being comes into deep contact with his environment and the mechanisms and processes inherent to it. It is their way of understanding and assimilating the way things happen. How does this process happen? At what point in our development did we begin to learn? and the most important How do we learn? These were the questions that founded the studies of evolutionary psychology.
Since its inception, psychology has tried to define how people acquire, preserve and develop knowledge. Among many investigations in this field, those of Jean Piaget who was a Swiss psychologist famous for his contributions to the studies on the intellectual and cognitive development of the child, which are considered to have had a transcendental influence on the studies of evolutionary psychology. Piaget's studies determine in stages the process of the developmental development of learning.
Theory of cognitive development
The studies carried out laid the foundations of what is now known as child psychology, and the theories raised had their origin in the behavioral observation of the development of this psychologist's own children. This theory is known because of it arise the well-known studies of Piaget.
One of the first postulates raised that logic begins before language and is the basis of thought, and therefore intelligence, is a kind of "Generic word" used to name a series of concrete operations that determine the functioning of the environment and the development of the individual in it.
Cognitive theory establishes that intelligence in children is focused on intellectual development and the way to stimulate it is through the acquisition of skills or abilities. For Piaget, intelligence consists of a process of biological adaptation, and unlike what is established in other theories, in this one it is considered that the individual plays an active and determining role in the acquisition of their knowledge.
How does cognitive development occur?
Human beings work in a constant search for balance, so when new experiences are incorporated into our schemes, we frequently live a process of acceptance (assimilation), followed by another of adaptation to change (accommodation).
When these experiences and schemes correspond, the balance is maintained, however, if the experiences conflict with the individual's own schemes, and which had been previously established, a shock occurs that triggers an imbalance, the first manifestation of which is the Confusion, and then learning through the aforementioned mechanisms. The coupling of the previous thoughts with the new ones puts our neurons to work, unleashing the production of ideas, solutions and new paradigms, which in the end can be defined as learning.
In summary, everything begins with a stimulus that unbalances our schemes, since in the face of these alterations produced, a series of reactions are triggered that can be summarized in two mechanisms for learning:
- The asimilation: This is the first stage, the immediate one to the disturbance. The natural reaction leads us to feel the “unknown territory "We are waiting for the changes that this new experience produces, then little by little we are accepting its occurrence. In some cases, especially in negative experiences, the first reaction may be one of denial.
- Accommodation: Once the initial impact was overcome, through mental processes we began to work to “accommodate” this new experience, combining it with our paradigms.
Organization and adaptation with its two poles of assimilation and accommodation, constitute the functioning that is permanent and common to life, but that is capable of creating varied forms or structures. In the development of adaptation by assimilation, new testimonies adhere to the previous scheme. In the development of adaptation by accommodation, the previous scheme has to be changed, to accommodate the new experience. For this cognitive development to occur.
Piaget's 4 stages
Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years)
A newborn has a behavior characterized by innate reflexes, the baby reacts to stimuli, however it is not able to coordinate actions and movements with a defined purpose. Part of these reflexes are defined as: rotation, suction or grip, which will gain strength over time. During the first two years of life, development focuses on sensorimotor schemes as baby explores the world of objects. Certain behaviors are also initiated, however the development of verbal and cognitive schemes is minimal and not at all coordinated.
At this stage of Piaget, the focus is on the most salient stimuli in the immediate environment. The baby grows, and the physical actions that were reflex at the beginning begin to evolve into controlled sensorimotor schemes; the duration of attention is replaced, and the baby becomes aware of the permanence of the objects and gives reminder signals, starting to search for them if they are removed. The incipient understanding of the cause and effect relationships that explain the events that occur around him begins, and the child shows signs of adaptation to the surrounding context by imitating the actions of others.
When they approach two years of age, children begin to internalize behavioral skills, through the creation of cognitive schemas such as imagination and thoughtas they act using their imagination based on memories of previous experiences in the same situation.
Development in this age range can be divided into the following sub-stages:
- Sub-stage 1: Includes the period from 0 to 1 month, in which the infant exercises his reflexes.
- Sub-stage 2: In the period of 1 to 4 months, the development of simple patterns has been observed in the child.
- Sub-stage 3: From 4 to 8 months, the baby begins to show signs of maturation by coordinating patterns.
- Sub-stage 4: From 8 to 12 months, there are signs of intentionality in the actions
- Sub-stage 5: Between 12 and 18 months, the child actively experiences new coordination.
- Sub-stage 6: Finally, between 18 and 24 months, the representative invention of new coordinations occurs.
Preoperational stage (2 to 7 years)
Among Piaget's studies, this is characterized by the fact that the baby delimits his body through accidental findings that arouse his interest. The infant in this period is characterized by being very observant, fixing his attention on various stimuli. Look closely at the place where an item disappears. This theory determined that many of the structures that appear in this stage are a first step towards the acquisition of the concept of the object.
For its part, learning becomes more cumulative and less dependent on immediate perception, the individual begins to develop the power of discernment. The thought begins to take concrete form, developing in the following way:
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- Symbolic and pre-conceptual thinking (2 to 4 years): Symbolic thinking appears thanks to the symbolic function, which is the ability to mentally evoke words or images.
- Intuitive thinking (4-7 years): What is the ability to generate knowledge, without the need to use previous analysis or reasoning.
The development of the mental structures required to generate these thoughts makes possible a systematic problem solving, characterized by the relationship of current situational factors with previously developed schemes retained in memory, visualizing activities without carrying them out. An example of them is that children begin to think of sequential tasks, such as building with blocks or copying letters, etc. Logical thinking is also encouraged, using cognitive schemata, representing your previous experiences, to predict the effects of potential actions.
Stage of specific operations (7 to 11 years)
Piaget's studies define that children become operational in this age range, which means that schemas, such as their logical thinking and problem-solving skills, are organized into concrete operations and mental representations of potential actions.
What do we call concrete operations?
- Actions of grouping and classifying objects following a pattern.
- Ability to place objects in series.
- Another concrete operation is denial, the recognition that an action can be denied or reversed to restore the original situation.
- The identity, or recognition that physical substances retain their volume or quantity even though their appearance changes, divided into parts, or otherwise transformed, as long as nothing is added or taken away.
- Compensation or reciprocity, which constitutes the recognition that a change in a dimension is balanced by a compensatory or reciprocal change.
Concrete operations allow children to develop structures to solve specific problems, helping them develop skills to “learn to learn", which is about raising awareness of the way in which knowledge can be acquired (meta-cognition). At this stage, logical reasoning skills are also acquired that help the individual to make sense of their general experience. Once children become operational in their thinking, they become more systematic as they move toward higher levels of balance. Their schemas become more stable, reliable and integrated into an understandable cognitive structure, becoming coordinated as they mutually support each other, so they can be used for logical reasoning and problem solving.
Stage of formal operations (11 to 16 years)
This stage contemplates the period of the formal operation, and begins around 12 years of age and gradually consolidates throughout adolescence and the young adult years. It is determined by the ability to think in symbolic terms and meaningfully understand abstract content without requiring physical objects or even imagination based on past experience with such objects.
It is believed that the proper development of formal operations appears to occur only among individuals whose cognitive structures have been stimulated and well integrated at the level of concrete operational thinking. There is no evidence that individuals with management of formal operations in societies lacking formal educational systems. This statement is based on studies implemented using the methods determined by Piaget: such as the evaluation of the actions of a pendulum, or the definition of causes of the bending of bars.
What are formal operations?
They are all those operations that cover logical and mathematical aspects, including the inference skills used in advanced reasoning. Among Piaget's studies, this determines the appearance of the thought that surrounds abstract ideas, or regarding the approach of theoretical possibilities that have never occurred in reality. People with well-functioning formal operations can determine the nature and logical implications of the relationship between the two propositions by designing and drawing conclusions from experiments that seek to develop scientific answers to verifiable problems.
Do all individuals carry out formal operations?
Not all individuals develop their skills in this area, since its consolidation requires a conscious and goal-oriented action. Even within more developed societies, it has been determined that only certain individuals, perhaps a minority, perform formal operations adequately in which schemas are coordinated to the point where they can be expressed, in purely symbolic form, as abstract mathematical or logical principles. that can be used without reference to concrete objects or images. To reach this level, you need to understand advanced concepts in philosophy, mathematics, and science, as well as many of the concepts taught in college courses on any subject.
There is a group of skeptics, who express opinions opposed to the conclusions drawn from these experiments, pointing out that this result is not entirely significant, since it is based on the evaluation in the individual of the knowledge of Western classical sciences, suggesting that the evidence Formal operational thinking might appear if individuals from underdeveloped societies were questioned about things that were familiar to them. Although this theory may be correct, it has not yet been convincingly demonstrated. For their part, comparisons within society of individuals who have or have not experienced formal schooling suggest that groups with a school education not only manage to read and write but also learn to deal with abstractions, to organize objects into categories based on They differ logically from organizations found in natural experience and to manipulate concepts logically without having to perform physical actions or refer to previous experience.
Importance of Piaget's studies
One of the most important thinkers of the last century was the psychologist Jean Piaget, since his approaches revolutionized the field of the study of child development, and the conceptions that were handled of it, contributing enormously to the development of the history of knowledge. His works were controversial, since they questioned the educational paradigms that were used at the time.
The observation and description of the development in the first stage of life of the human being, and its subsequent categorization into stages, broadened the understanding in this area, making the teaching process closer and adjusted to the true needs of the human being at each stage.
This theory is largely responsible for the evolution of the educational system.