Jean Piaget

The Jean Piaget Society writes that:

Jean Piaget was born in Neuchâtel (Switzerland) on August 9, 1896. He died in Geneva on September 16, 1980. He was the oldest child of Arthur Piaget, professor of medieval literature at the University, and of Rebecca Jackson. At age 11, while he was a pupil at Neuchâtel Latin high school, he wrote a short notice on an albino sparrow. This short paper is generally considered as the start of a brilliant scientific career made of over sixty books and several hundred articles.
His interest for mollusks was developed during his late adolescence to the point that he became a well-known malacologist by finishing school. He published many papers in the field that remained of interest for him all along his life.
After high school graduation, he studied natural sciences at the University of Neuchâtel where he obtained a Ph.D. During this period, he published two philosophical essays which he considered as "adolescence work" but were important for the general orientation of his thinking.
After a semester spent at the University of Zürich where he developed an interest for psychoanalysis, he left Switzerland for France. He spent one year working at the Ecole de la rue de la Grange-aux-Belles a boys' institution created by Alfred Binet and then directed by De Simon who had developed with Binet a test for the measurement of intelligence. There, he standardized Burt's test of intelligence and did his first experimental studies of the growing mind.
In 1921, he became director of studies at the J.-J. Rousseau Institute in Geneva at the request of Sir Ed. Claparède and P. Bovet.
In 1923, he and Valentine Châtenay were married. The couple had three children, Jacqueline, Lucienne and Laurent whose intellectual development from infancy to language was studied by Piaget.
Successively or simultaneously, Piaget occupied several chairs: psychology, sociology and history of science at Neuchâtel from 1925 to 1929; history of scientific thinking at Geneva from 1929 to 1939; the International Bureau of Education from 1929 to 1967; psychology and sociology at Lausanne from 1938 to 1951; sociology at Geneva from 1939 to 1952, then genetic and experimental psychology from 1940 to 1971. He was, reportedly, the only Swiss to be invited at the Sorbonne from 1952 to 1963. In 1955, he created and directed until his death the International Center for Genetic Epistemology.
His researches in developmental psychology and genetic epistemology had one unique goal: how does knowledge grow? His answer is that the growth of knowledge is a progressive construction of logically embedded structures superseding one another by a process of inclusion of lower less powerful logical means into higher and more powerful ones up to adulthood. Therefore, children's logic and modes of thinking are initially entirely different from those of adults.

Piaget's oeuvre is known all over the world and is still an inspiration in fields like psychology, sociology, education, epistemology, economics and law as witnessed in the annual catalogues of the Jean Piaget Archives. He was awarded numerous prizes and honorary degrees all over the world.

The following is a video in which Piaget discusses his work:

The Influence of Gratitude Intervention on Children's Positive Affect

Positive Affect (PA) can be defined as a set of characteristics such as confidence, self-efficacy, pro-social behaviour and optimism that serve to encourage an individual to engage with their environment and pursue their goals (Lyubomirsky, King and Diener 2005).

Froh, Kashdan, Ozimkowski and Miller (2009) maintain that people with low PA require more positive experiences to match the level of PA experienced by people who are generally happier. According to Froh et al. (2009) cultivation of gratitude can result increased positive affect. Grant and Gino (2010) found that gratitude expressions increased both the initiation and maintenance of pro-social behavior, a characteristic of PA.

Froh et al (2009) studied whether gratitude cultivation would affect the level of PA of children and adolescents. They assessed 89 children and adolescents split into two groups that either wrote a letter of gratitude or wrote about daily activities. They found that children with low PA who cultivated gratitude reported greater levels of gratitude and  PA, compared to the control group, at post-treatment and two months.

References:

Froh J.J., Kashdan T.B., Ozimkowski K.M. & Miller N. (2009). Who benefits the most from a gratitude intervention in children and adolescents? Examining positive affect as a moderator, The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4 (5) 408-422. DOI: 10.1080/17439760902992464

Grant A.M. & Gino F. (2010). A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior., Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98 (6) 946-955. DOI: 10.1037/a0017935
 
Lyubomirsky S., King L. & Diener E. (2005). The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?, Psychological Bulletin, 131 (6) 803-855. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.803

The Stages of Children's Artistic Development

I doubt many people can remember the first time they held a crayon or drew their first picture. Yet this pivotal moment in our childhood is just the beginning of what researchers have found is a series of developmental stages. However, there are differing interpretations of when specific stages occur, how many stages there are, and what occurs within each stage.

Possibly the most significant figure in the research of children's artistic development was Viktor Lowenfeld. Brutger, at the University of Minnesota, provides an outline of Lowenfeld's stages:

1. Scribble (2 to 4 years)
According to Lowenfield the scribble stage is made up of four sub stages. These are:

• Disordered
• Longitudinal
• Circular
• Naming

2. Preschematic (4 to 6 years)
At this stage circular images accompanied by lines such as faces or animals become noticeable. Additionally the child's schema is developed. Children also tend to draw things that matter most to them, such as parents, pets and family members. There appears to be a limited awareness of space, with objects being placed haphazardly throughout the picture.

3. Schematic (7 to 9 years)
The Schematic stage is defined by an improved awareness of space. Colours are used as they appear in the real world such as a blue sky or green apple.

4. Dawning Realism (9 to 11 years)
Dawning Realism, also known as the Gang Age, is characterised by a period of self-awareness and self-criticism. Realism is attempted but the child may discover they lack the ability to draw things as they actually are. Human characters tend to look stiff.

5. Pseudorealistic Stage (11 to 13 years)
The final stage, called the Pseudorealistic Stage, is marked by the child's focus on the final product rather than the experience of drawing.

Individuals at this stage may fall into two different types:

• Visual types - Feel as if they are spectators looking at their work from outside
• Nonvisual types - Feel involved in their work because it relates to them on a personal level.

Eventually Lowenfeld (1947) was succeeded by various other individuals who all proposed similar stages. A list of which can be found here. As well as this a recent cross-cultural study has found that children may differ as they progress through these stages. Alter-Muri and Vazzano (2014) found that boys drew vehicles and weapons more often than girls. They also found that boys were less likely to use colour whereas girls used warm and cool colours equally. Furthermore they also found variation amongst children within the same sub-groups. Alter-Muri and Vazzano (2014) state that "Lowenfeld's art development stages are applicable to age but are not universal,".

Despite criticism of Lowenfeld's stages, it is evident that children progress through some kind of artistic development composed of stages. The exact timing of these stages varies according to different theories and research. It could be suggested that because of individual differences, children will obviously differ in their progress and artistic ability. The study of children and artistic ability has proven fruitful, despite disagreements over the developmental stages, with various therapies and interventions designed around the child drawing. Psychological research will continue to provide further information, not only on artistic development, but on children's wellbeing and happiness through the use of the pencil, crayon, and paintbrush for years to come.

References:

Alter-Muri, S.B. & Vazzano, S. (2014). Gender Typicality in Children's Art Development: A Cross-Cultural Study The Arts in Psychotherapy : http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2014.01.003



Lowenfeld, V. 1947. Creative and Mental Growth. New York: MacMillan Co.