~ ~ ~

By Bill Harris, Centerpointe Research Institute

This is the second in a series about cognitive development and the work of Jean Piaget — and the huge benefits of understanding this developmental process.

You might also want to read part one ["Piaget, cognitive development, and how you make sense of your world (part 1)"], where I described Jean Piaget’s first two levels of cognitive development (sensorimotor and preoperational).

In this post, we’ll look at the third stage, concrete operational, the stage of most adults in the Western world.

I know the names of these stages can be confusing at first. And some might see the topic itself as dry and intellectual.

Nothing could be further from the truth, however. I think that you’ll find this information to be extremely practical and pertinent to your life.

You might even find yourself saying “Ah-HA!” as you have insights that allow you to better understand your life.

Understanding how the developmental process works will accelerate your mental, emotional, and spiritual growth. It will expand your awareness of who you are, where you’ve been, and where you’re going (or at least, could be going).

And, it will very likely help you understand some of the reasons why certain areas of your life aren’t working as well as you’d like them to.

Let me begin by reminding you of a little-known (but very important) secret about life…

You are always immersed in something, and because you’re immersed in it, you’re unaware of it. Being unaware of it, you are it. It’s a blind spot. You can’t see it. And, until you see it, you cannot grow past it.

Whether it’s your emotions, your concepts and beliefs, your role in your family or peer group, your idea of who you are, or something else, when you’re immersed in something you have no control over it. It operates on autopilot — and it controls you.

This causes things to happen that you did not intend, and consequences you don’t want.

I don’t want to get too philosophical here, but this is the deeper meaning of “shit happens.” This is Willie E. Coyote with the ACME Safe landing on top of him, over and over. This is you continually getting yourself into situations you never wanted to be in.

As you gain awareness of what you’ve been immersed in you gain more control over your life. Once this happens, you “have it” (instead of being it) and you can use it (whatever it is) to create a better life for yourself.

In being able to see it, your perspective becomes larger. You see your life from a higher spot on the mountain.

And, the times when things “just happen” become fewer and fewer until eventually little if anything happens that you did not intend.

And, eventually, instead of life being all about you, it will begin to be all about us–all of us. Instead of working on getting your own life together, you’ll be working on getting the world together.

What’s more, by seeing the map of where you’ve been (those stages you’ve been through), you’ll more easily and more resourcefully use the skills of those stages.

But seeing the map of where you’re (hopefully) going (the stages you haven’t been through) you’ll see the future, the possibilities.

When you get there, it will be much easier to navigate, and even become a master of, these stages.

In part one I discussed Piaget’s first two stages, sensorimotor and preoperational.

Now we’ll look at the next stage, concrete operational.

Then, in a couple of other posts, I’ll discuss the levels after that.

I think you’ll find this to be very interesting.

When I talk about the concrete operational stage of development, the term operations refers to cognitive and/or logical tools, operations, or principles used to solve problems or accomplish something in the world.

It’s the stuff you learn, through experience, that allows you to tie your shoes, ride a bicycle, use the telephone, operate an automobile, cook a meal, make change, figure out what to buy at the store, or, really, successfully accomplish an endless number of other concrete daily tasks.

In the preoperational stage, which we discussed last time, the child doesn’t quite have enough experience in life to figure out the concrete operations that would allow him to navigate the world successfully.

That’s one reason why he often sees things in magical terms as he tries to make sense of what’s going on around him.

Though he’s working on it, he hasn’t yet seen how cause and effect works to make things happen in the world. This is why he needs help (from parents of teachers) to get along in the world.

Adults at this stage have trouble succeeding in the world, which is the only reason why I keep harping on the fact that magical thinking isn’t a very good way of navigating your life (it isn’t because I’m a sourpuss, or because I have no sparkle in my life).

The child at the concrete operational stage has accomplished quite a bit. He can use symbols to represent things (developed during the late preoperational or magic-mythic stage).

What’s more, he can manipulate these symbols and representations in a logical way in order to accomplish many concrete tasks.

These manipulations, though, can be used only in the context of concrete situations — “as if” thinking and other types of abstract thinking are not yet possible.

This, then, is the developmental stage where we learn to get around in the world and perform concrete, everyday tasks.

This is accomplished through logic, through the ability to create internal representations and symbols for things, and through the ability to create generalizations (doors have handles, you sit in a chair to have your hair cut and pay at the end, someone will come to take your food order in a restaurant, you look for traffic before crossing the street, you can find and buy food at the grocery store, when your hands are dirty you can get them clean by washing them, and on and on — as long as these cognitive tools are applied to concrete situations).

One of these new cognitive tools is decentering, something I mentioned in a previous post. Decentering happens when two or more different aspects, relationships, or ways of classifying objects can be held in the mind, understood, and operated upon at the same time.

Continued on Bill Harris' blog at Centerpointe Research Institute.

    ~ ~ ~

Bill Harris is a Certified Trainer of Neuro Linguistic Programming and is trained in Ericksonian Hypnosis. He is a long time student of contemporary psychology, quantum mechanical physics, the evolution of non-linear systems (chaos theory) and the effects of a wide range of neurotechnologies on human change, evolution and healing.

He is a founding member of the Transformational Leadership Council started by Chicken Soup for the Soul author Jack Canfield, and is founder and director of Centerpointe Research Institute.

Also see more articles by Bill Harris and free online course led by Bill Harris: The Masters of The Secret.

~ ~ ~

  

Positive psychology bookmarks

positive psychology
.....
positive psychology articles / sites....

positive psychology : books

~ ~ ~