An Introduction to
THEORIES of LEARNING
Ninth Edition
CHAPTER
11
Gestalt Theory
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Jean Piaget (1896—1980)
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Piaget’s Discovery
• Working on the standardization of
intelligence tests.
• A child’s incorrect answers to test
questions were more informative than
the correct answers.
• Mistakes generally made by children of
one age were qualitatively different
from mistakes made by children of
different ages.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Major Theoretical Concepts
• Intelligence
 An intelligent act is one that causes an
approximation to the conditions optimal
for an organism’s survival.
 How intelligence manifests itself at any
given time will necessarily vary as
conditions vary.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Major Theoretical Concepts
• Schemata
 The potential to act in a certain way was
labeled schema (plural: schemata).
 Aspects of any particular manifestation
of a schema are called content.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Major Theoretical Concepts
• Assimilation and Accommodation
 Assimilation is responding to the
environment in accordance with one’s
cognitive structure.
 Accommodation is a process by which
the cognitive structure is modified.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Major Theoretical Concepts
• Assimilation and Accommodation
 Referred to as functional invariants
 Occur at all levels of development
 Less accommodation as one ages
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Equilibration: Piaget on
Reinforcement
• Equilibration
 An innate tendency to create a
harmonious relationship between self
and environment.
 Equilibration is defined as the
continuous drive toward equilibrium or
balance.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Equilibration: Piaget on
Reinforcement
• Failure of assimilation to respond to
unique aspects of the environment
causes cognitive disbalance.
• Lack of cognitive balance has
motivational properties that keep the
organism active until a balance is
attained.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Major Theoretical Concepts
• Interiorization
 Children’s early interactions with the
environment are strictly sensorimotor.
 Decreasing dependence on the physical
environment and the increased
utilization of cognitive structures is
called interiorization.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Major Theoretical Concepts
• Operations
 The child’s early adaptive responses are
mainly overt.
 As interiorization continues, adaptive
responses become more covert.
 Piaget called these internal covert
actions operations.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Major Theoretical Concepts
• Most important characteristic of an
operation is that it is reversible.
• Reversibility means that once
something is thought, it can be
“unthought.”
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Major Theoretical Concepts
• Early operations depend on events
experienced directly: concrete
operations.
• Later operations are independent of
physical experience: formal
operations.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Stages of Development
• Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to about
Two Years)
 Not an operational stage.
 Children at this stage are egocentric.
 Toward the end of this stage, children
develop the concept of object
permanence.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Stages of Development
• Preoperational Thinking (about Two
to Seven Years)
A. Preconceptual thinking (about two to
four years): rudimentary concept
formation and transductive logic.
B. Period of intuitive thought (about Four
to Seven years): failure to develop
conservation.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Stages of Development
• Concrete Operations (about Seven to
Eleven or Twelve Years)
 Children develop conservation, along
with the abilities to deal adequately with
classes, with seriation, and with number
concepts.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
A Concrete Operational Problem
• Can you fill in the blank?
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Stages of Development
• Formal Operations (about Eleven or
Twelve to Fourteen or Fifteen Years)
 Children can now deal with hypothetical
situations, and their thought processes
are not tied down exclusively to what is
immediate and real.
 Thinking at this stage is as logical as it
will ever become.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Optimal Conditions for Learning
• Information must be presented that can
be assimilated into the present
cognitive structure but at the same
time be different enough to necessitate
a change in that structure.
• Miller and Dollard’s learning
dilemma:
 All learning depends on failure.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
What Camp?
• Diametrically opposed to the S-R
conception of knowledge.
• Cognitive structures are projected onto
the physical environment and thus
create it.
• Knowing the external world necessarily
involves acting upon it and therefore
changing it.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
What Camp?
• Disagreement between the Gestalt
theorists and Piaget is over the
developmental nature of organizational
ability.
• Piaget: Organizational abilities of the
brain develop as cognitive structures
develop.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
What Camp?
• Progressive Equilibrium
 Balance or organization sought is
optimal under existing circumstances
and that those circumstances are
constantly changing.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Piaget on Education
• Educational experiences must be built
around the learner’s cognitive
structure.
• Optimal education involves mildly
challenging experiences so that the
dual processes of assimilation and
accommodation can provide intellectual
growth.
• Must be individualized.
An Introduction to Theories of Learning, Ninth Edition
Matthew H. Olson | B. R. Hergenhahn
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved