Piaget, Pedagogy, and Evolutionary Psychology

Constructivist pedagogy draws on Piaget's developmental theory. Because Piaget depicted the emergence of formal reasoning skills in adolescence as part of the normal developmental pattern, many constructivists have assumed that intrinsic motivation is possible for all academic tasks. This paper...

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Main Author: Jeremy E. C. Genovese
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2003-01-01
Series:Evolutionary Psychology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490300100109
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author Jeremy E. C. Genovese
author_facet Jeremy E. C. Genovese
author_sort Jeremy E. C. Genovese
collection DOAJ
description Constructivist pedagogy draws on Piaget's developmental theory. Because Piaget depicted the emergence of formal reasoning skills in adolescence as part of the normal developmental pattern, many constructivists have assumed that intrinsic motivation is possible for all academic tasks. This paper argues that Piaget's concept of a formal operational stage has not been empirically verified and that the cognitive skills associated with that stage are in fact “biologically secondary abilities” ( Geary and Bjorklund, 2000 ) culturally determined abilities that are difficult to acquire. Thus, it is unreasonable to expect that intrinsic motivation will suffice for most students for most higher level academic tasks. In addition, a case is made that educational psychology must incorporate the insights of evolutionary psychology.
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spelling doaj.art-908629891fcc4a128ac2872c754a05d22022-12-22T03:00:36ZengSAGE PublishingEvolutionary Psychology1474-70492003-01-01110.1177/14747049030010010910.1177_147470490300100109Piaget, Pedagogy, and Evolutionary PsychologyJeremy E. C. GenoveseConstructivist pedagogy draws on Piaget's developmental theory. Because Piaget depicted the emergence of formal reasoning skills in adolescence as part of the normal developmental pattern, many constructivists have assumed that intrinsic motivation is possible for all academic tasks. This paper argues that Piaget's concept of a formal operational stage has not been empirically verified and that the cognitive skills associated with that stage are in fact “biologically secondary abilities” ( Geary and Bjorklund, 2000 ) culturally determined abilities that are difficult to acquire. Thus, it is unreasonable to expect that intrinsic motivation will suffice for most students for most higher level academic tasks. In addition, a case is made that educational psychology must incorporate the insights of evolutionary psychology.https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490300100109
spellingShingle Jeremy E. C. Genovese
Piaget, Pedagogy, and Evolutionary Psychology
Evolutionary Psychology
title Piaget, Pedagogy, and Evolutionary Psychology
title_full Piaget, Pedagogy, and Evolutionary Psychology
title_fullStr Piaget, Pedagogy, and Evolutionary Psychology
title_full_unstemmed Piaget, Pedagogy, and Evolutionary Psychology
title_short Piaget, Pedagogy, and Evolutionary Psychology
title_sort piaget pedagogy and evolutionary psychology
url https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490300100109
work_keys_str_mv AT jeremyecgenovese piagetpedagogyandevolutionarypsychology