Talk:Jean Piaget
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[edit] Sentence in article
The last comment on this page is correct. Piaget never considered himself to be a developmental psychologist, but did indeed refer to himself as a "genetic epistemologist." I believe that this is an important fact about Piaget. Furthermore, I fail to see any mention of Piaget's theory, besides a brief introduction to his stages of cognitive development. It states nothing about the mechanisms responsible for this development, e.g. assimilation and accomodation. I also think that it is important to note that Piaget formulated his theory based upon the qualitative analysis of his own three children. The article also notes nothing about Piaget's critics. John
I do not understand this sentence:
"For example children may not be able to conserve five checkers spread out and report that there are more checkers." --80.58.9.44 20:29, 14 December 2005 (UTC)
I also don't understand this - can someone who does please alter it, or at least explain on this discussion page what it means Bgh251f2 22:50, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
Conservation is the ability to appreciate that something remains the same despite a superficial change. For example, children who fail to conserve will often claim that by moving a row of counters further apart from one another, you have made 'more' counters. Exactly what the children mean by 'more' is a subject of some debate. Some claim that they are simply alluding to the increased spatial dimensions, and not numerosity. If that is indeed the case then this phenomena is not very interesting. For a more intriguing argument, see conservation of liquid.
I didn't understand that paragraph either, and I don't think it is relevant in this article. Therefore, I have removed it. Graham talk 13:25, 16 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Late life
This article only mentions Piaget's early life, not his late life. Someone should elaborate on it.
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Perhaps someone could comment on the fact the Piaget was not actually a developmental psychologist, but rather called himself a 'genetic epistemologist'. He was interested in the basis and formation of knowledge structures and was interested in children only insofar as they illuminated this. In fact the University of Geneva turned him down for a doctorate in Psychology in 1976 as he could not be fit into any one topic. See Burman's 1996 book Decontructing Developmental Psychology for more details (chapter 11 in particular).
I was just going to comment on the paragraph about children's "ability to appreciate that something remains the same despite a superficial change". This paragraph seems to make it a bit more complex than it was explained to me. Rather than using the example of "counters", think of two glasses containing the same amount of liquid. One, a tall thin glass, the other a squat fat glass. A child who hasnt yet grasped concepts of conservation, will usually say that the taller glass contains more liquid. The child has yet to grasp the concept of an object retaining it's original properties, despite a change in spatial dimensions or surroundings.
[edit] Piaget's influence on therapeutic methods
On the other hand, Piaget does not seem to have influenced therapeutic methods or models to any significant degree.
This is untrue. It seems to be a large factor in, if not the the basis of the cognitive behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy (which references Piaget), which has a close relation to the scientifically-tested cognitive therapy. Cognitive therapy is relatively commonplace.
It is also easy to see the relationship (or so I speculate); cognitive therapy accomplishes successful changes in unhealthy thinking by re-treading Piaget's learning processes in an environment encouraging of healthier and more realistic thought patterns.
A bit shy to edit this myself -- if someone could verify enough to be confident of the edit, please go ahead.
[edit] Epistemology, Biology, Logic all missing
This article is not about the man, but the myth: it is decidedly skewed toward how he is understood within psychology, such that it does not accurately reflect his true endeavours. This is an article about Piaget as the neo-Piagetian sees him. Writing only from the perspective of psychology, perhaps it does deserve a B+ (as indicated above). But, as history, it's not very good at all. If you're a student reading this article, do yourself a favour and get Bringuier's (very short) "Conversations with Jean Piaget" instead. -JTBurman 15:38, 21 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] EN3 certificate
Beth, E.W., and Piaget, J. (1966). Mathematical Epistemology and Psychology. Dordrecht: D. Reidel. and E.W. is known to have EN2. pom 15:24, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
