Criticisms of Piaget’s Theory. Thinking Critically About Object Permanence

construct [kən'strʌkt] - создавать; строить \quantity ['kwɔntətɪ] количество;

a way - метод; способ \ novelty ['nɔv(ə)ltɪ] новизна, инновация, нововведение

obvious ['ɔbvɪəs] очевидный, заметный

Piaget opened up a new way of looking at how the human mind develops. He founded the field of cognitive development and promoted a new view of children that saw them as active agents constructing their own worlds Above all else, he sought answers to new questions. As he acknowledged in a 1970 interview, “It’s just that no adult ever had the idea of asking children about conservation. It was so obvious that if you change the shape of an object, the quantity will be conserved. Why ask a child? The novelty lay in asking the question”. In Piaget’s theory, however, there are some limitations. Here are some of the criticisms of Piaget’s theory.

appropriateness [ə'prəuprɪətnəs] правильность, правомерность, уместность

improve [ɪm'pruːv] улучшаться; совершенствоваться;

emerge [ɪ'mɜːʤ ] появляться; \ failure ['feɪljə] неспособность

lead to приводить к (каким-л. результатам); быть причиной (чего-л.)

revisit [ˌriː'vɪzɪt] пересматривать \consider [kən'sɪdə] рассматривать, обсуждать

underestimate [ˌʌnd(ə)r'estɪmət] недооценивать, преуменьшать

proving ['pruːvɪŋ] доказывание \ assume [ə's(j)uːm] допускать, предполагать

As methods have improved for assessing infants and children, researchers have found that many cognitive abilities emerge earlier in children than Piaget thought. Piaget’s object permanence task, for example, has been criticized for not giving infants a chance to show their abilities.

Let’s revisit the classic object permanence task developed by Piaget. To begin with, we can consider how the methodological aspects of this task might have led Piaget to underestimate infants’ abilities. Remember that from Piaget’s perspective, “ proving ” object permanence meant that the child must search for the hidden toy, reach out, and retrieve it.

Let’s assume that the child has developed an understanding of object permanence. That is, the child believes that the toy exists even if he or she cannot see it.

What skills must the child have in order to reach out for the toy? If the child does not reach out for the toy even though he knows it still exists, what might the failure to do so mean?

continue [kən'tɪnjuː] продолжать

expect [ɪk'spekt ]ожидать, полагать, предполагать\ expectation [ˌekspek'teɪʃ(ə)n] ожидание, предположение;

visible ['vɪzəbl] видимый, видный \remove [rɪ'muːv] убирать, отодвигать

appear [ə'pɪə] показываться; появляться\ disappear [ˌdɪsə'pɪə] исчезать (из поля зрения)

reappear [ˌriːə'pɪə] снова показываться, появляться

realize ['rɪəlaɪz] понимать, осознавать \ distance ['dɪst(ə)n(t)s] расстояние; дистанция

fail [feɪl] не исполнить, не сделать;

Renée Baillargeon (Baillargeon, 2009, 2011) has documented that infants as young as 3 months of age know that objects continue to exist even when hidden, and that these very young infants have expectations about objects in the world. In one study (Aguiar & Baillargeon, 1999), researchers showed 2.5-month-old infants a puppet show featuring Minnie Mouse. (feature- выводить в главной роли (какого-л. актёра))

Experiments with 2.5-month-old infants. (‘‘Minnie Mouse’’) The infants saw two test events. In one (high-window event), a window was created in the screen’s upper half. The mouse was shorter than the bottom of the window and so did not become visible when passing behind the screen. In the other event (two-screen event), the midsection (средняя секция) of the screen was removed. In this event, the mouse should have appeared in the gap between the screens, but it did not in fact do so; the mouse disappeared behind one screen and reappeared from behind the other screen without appearing in the gap between them. The infants looked much longer at the two-screen than at the high-window test event. This result suggested that, when shown the two-screen event, the infants (1) believed that the mouse continued to exist when behind one of the screens, (2) realized that the mouse could not disappear behind one screen and reappear from behind the other screen without traveling the distance between them, and (3) expected the mouse to appear between the screens and were surprised when it failed to do so.

Their behavior suggested that even though Minnie was out of sight, she was not out of mind. Not only did these 3-month-olds realize that Minnie still existed, but they also had expectations about where she was going.

area ['eərɪə] область, сфера деятельности

underestimate [ˌʌnd(ə)r'estɪmət] недооценивать\

overestimate [ˌəuv(ə)r'estɪmeɪt] переоценивать, оценивать слишком высоко

evidence ['evɪd(ə)n(t)s] доказательство, подтверждение; свидетельство

as early as – ещё \ just as - подобно тому, как

consistently [kən'sɪst(ə)ntlɪ] единообразно, равным образом

universally = by everyone; in every case \ propose [prə'pəuz] предлагать; вносить предложение

Thus, in many areas, Piaget underestimated young children’s cognitive development. Renée Baillargeon has found evidence that children begin to develop object permanence much earlier than Piaget thought, perhaps as early as 3 to 4 months of age (Baillargeon, 1987, 1994).

Just as Piaget may have underestimated infants, he may have overestimated adolescents and adults. Formal operational thought does not emerge as consistently and universally in early adolescence as Piaget thought, and many adolescents and even adults do not reason as logically as Piaget proposed.

culture ['kʌlʧə] культура \ education [ˌeʤu'keɪʃ(ə)n ] образование; обучение

cultural ['kʌlʧ(ə)r(ə)l] культурный, относящийся к культуре,

interaction [ˌɪntər'ækʃ(ə)n] взаимодействие

approach [ə'prəuʧ] подход \ take an approach – применять подход

recognize ['rekəgnaɪz] осознавать; признавать

interpersonal [ˌɪntə'pɜːsənəl] межличностный \

knowledgeable ['nɔlɪʤəbl] хорошо осведомлённый, информированный

influence ['ɪnfluən(t)s] влияние, действие, воздействие

Piaget did not think that culture and education play important roles in children’s cognitive development. For Piaget, the child’s active interaction with the physical world was all that was needed to go through these stages. The Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1962) took a different approach, recognizing that cognitive development is very much an interpersonal process that happens in a cultural context. Vygotsky thought of children as thinkers who develop as they interact in dialogue with more knowledgeable others, such as parents and teachers. Thus, Piaget underestimated the influence of cultural factors on cognitive development.

QUESTIONS

1. What are Piaget’s research contributions to our understanding of cognitive development?

2. What are limitations of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?

3. What is Piaget’s object permanence task criticized for? Does the design of Piaget’s object permanence task exclude alternative explanations?

4. What is an alternative explanation of an infant’s inability to search for a hidden object? What other methods, beyond Piaget’s classic object permanence task, might a researcher use to demonstrate object permanence?

5. What method does Renée Baillargeon use to assess infants’ cognitive abilities? What is habituation? What is dishabituation? Why do you think it took over 50 years for psychologists to question the appropriateness of Piaget’s methods?

6. What discovery in infants’ cognition was made through the use of the habituation-dishabituation paradigm in experiments with 2.5-month-old infants (‘‘Minnie Mouse’’)?

7. Is progress to the formal operational stage universally guaranteed? Does every adult reach the formal operational stage?

7. How does Lev Vygotsky's cognitive development model differ from Piaget's one?

8. Did Lev Vygotsky (1962) support Piaget’s assumption that children everywhere go through uniform stages of thinking at roughly the same ages? How did Lev Vygotsky explain the individual differences in development?

EX.37 In each of these groups two words (or phrases) express the same meaning. Decide which of the three words (or phrases) in each group is the odd one out.

1. Interaction, influence, contact

2. Knowledge, method, approach

3. Knowledgeable, experienced, uninformed

4. Independent, social, interpersonal

5. Influence, effect, difference

6. underestimate, undervalue, understand

7. expect too much of, assess, overestimate

8. support, expect, suppose

9. appear, emerge, realize

10. appear, perform seem

11. fail, be unsuccessful, reach

12. failure, success, fiasco

13. evidence, appropriateness, suitability

14. evidence, area, prof

15. prove, demonstrate, estimate

arrange 1) приводить в порядок; расставлять Syn: organize 2) устраивать, организовывать

avoid [ə'vɔɪd] избегать, уклоняться\ feel like хотеть \ suggest – предлагать\

give up оставить, отказаться; бросить (что-л.) \ refuse [rɪ'fjuːz] отвергать, отказывать; отклонять

put off откладывать (что-л. на более поздний срок) \ mind возражать, иметь что-л. Против

intend [ɪn'tend] намереваться \ prepare [prɪ'peə] готовить, подготавливать (к чему-л.)

EX.1

EX.2

EX.3

ПРАКТИКА ПЕРЕВОДА (2) Перевод составного сказуемого, в состав которого входит герундий

Герундий может функционировать в роли составной части сказуемого или дополнения.

Her favourite pastime is knitting. - Её любимое занятие – вязание.

The baby started crying – Ребёнок заплакал.

Do you mind Ann’s joining us? – Ты не против того, чтобы Энн к нам присоединилась?

I can’t bear your being so sad. - Не выношу, когда ты так огорчаешься.

We all apreciate your helping us. – Мы все благодарны тебе за помощь.

They are thinking of moving to America. – Они размышляют о том, чтобы переехать в Америку.

They kept on arguing. – Они продолжили спор.

Герундий может быть переведён с помощью отглагольного существительного или инфинитива. Возможны и другие способы перевода герундия. Например, Is following England on the path of world imperialism "the American way"? (Th. Dreiser) (букв.: А следование за Англией по пути империализма – это разве по-американски?). Переводчики памфлета Драйзера используют для перевода деепричастной оборот: А подражать Англии, следуя за ней по пути империализма, — разве это по-американски? Возможны также следующие варианты: А следовать за Англией по пути империализма, разве это по-американски? А когда Америка следует за Англией по пути империализма, разве это по-американски?

Другой пример из того же памфлета Драйзера, где герундий снова выступает в функции подлежащего:

Being a world power has done nothing for the people of England. (Th. Dreiser)

В данном случае контекст дает еще более широкие возможности выбора вариантов: Положение мировой державы, которым пользуется Англия, ничего не дало ее народу. Англия - великая держава, но это ничего не дало ее народу. Хотя Англия — великая держава, но это ничего не дало ее народу. (примеры и пояснения к ним из Апполова, 1977).

Очень часто при переводе герундия в функции подлежащего приходится вводить дополнительные слова: «Тот факт, что…», «То обстоятельство, что...» или просто «То, что...».

Герундий может функционировать в предложении в роли подлежащего::

Learning to ski has always been an ambition of his. – Его давняя мечта - научиться кататься на лыжах.

John’s coming tomorrow will make all the difference. – Завтра приезжает Джон, и это всё изменит.

EX.38 Translate into Russian

1. Psychologists recognized that the mental health professions had not yet developed an adequate scientific base for demonstrating the “worth” of psychological interventions.

2. Women commonly hesitate to report sexual harassment because of a fear of not being believed, being retaliated against, having their career damaged, or being humiliated.

3. Moreover, women report experiencing such negative consequences as being transferred or fired when they have reported the sexual harassment.

4. Preparation for testimony is the key to successfully informing the judge and/or the jury of their opinion regarding the mental condition of the subject patient.

5. Static risk factors for dangerous behavior are defined by past events such as a history of childhood maladjustment, having criminal biological parents, offense history, or previous abuse.

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