Piaget and “The Dangers of Psychologists”

IMG_4633

The 1970 Psychology Today cover. (Photo by Jennifer Duer)

HIDDEN inside the boxes that line the shelves of the Center for the History of Psychology rest artifacts that would drive any developmental psychologist wild. Mary Ainsworth’s letters are neatly filed close to John Bowlby’s infamous video, A Two-Year-Old Goes to Hospital. Copies of nearly every Psychology Today issue are housed a few shelves over. That was where I discovered a 1970 magazine portraying the father of developmental psychology lighting his pipe on the front cover.

Although Jean Piaget would ultimately cultivate a career studying children, his initial schooling focused on biology and philosophy. At the age of ten, Piaget published his first paper: a report on a part-albino sparrow. Around the same time, Piaget studied mollusks at the Natural History in Neuchatel while reading Henri Bergson’s philosophical texts in his spare time.

The Center houses a 1972 copy of Piaget's book. Piaget admits in the interview, "I have taken epistemology away from philosophy but I have not taken it only for psychology. It belongs in all of the sciences."

The Center houses a 1972 copy of Piaget’s book. Piaget admits in the interview, “I have taken epistemology away from philosophy but I have not taken it only for psychology. It belongs in all of the sciences.”

In the Psychology Today interview, Piaget revealed that his unconventional background encouraged his later scientific discoveries because he was able to rely on his biologist instincts to ensure his findings were based on empirical evidence in conjunction with his philosophical intuitions to “sit in [his] office and reason.”

Piaget’s background ultimately served him well as he became a leading figure within psychology. Perhaps his most well-known finding was that children lack an understanding of conservation or the idea that something can change form while maintaining certain qualities (e.g., mass, volume, quantity). Interestingly, Piaget divulged that he initially stumbled across this finding by studying children with epilepsy. In search of a diagnostic test for the condition, he realized these particular children believed Piaget had more coins than beads if three coins comprised a longer line than the four beads did. It wasn’t until Piaget asked neurotypical children the same question that he found that these children, too, did not apply the logic of conservation until around 8 years old. According to Piaget, the novelty of his research was a result of asking children questions that researchers before him found too obvious to ask. Even today, Piaget’s ideas impact the field as researchers continue to identify examples to demonstrate how children conceptualize the world differently than adults.

IMG_4638

This cartoon demonstrates one popular version of the conservation task where children compare liquids of the same volume poured into different size containers. (Psychology Today , 1970. Photo by Jennifer Duer)

Piaget concludes the interview by admitting to potential pitfalls of applied psychology. He remarks, “too often psychologists make practical applications before they know what they are applying. We must always keep a place for fundamental research and beware of practical applications when we do not know the foundation of our theories.” As I reflect on my own interests in empirically studying the practical applications of psychology Piaget refers to, I am reminded to keep in mind the biologist’s reliance on evidence, the philosopher’s insistence on reason, and Piaget’s emphasis to merge the two.

Day 20: Finalizing FUSE and blog posts — and learning about copyright!

We spent our last full day at the center finalizing our FUSE documents.  This included finishing up the narrative documents that the students have been working on and learning about the details of copyright law.  Lizette was our guide to the ins and outs of what we can and cannot post and how to find out who holds a copyright and how to request permissions.

Lizette and the group surrounded by acid-free boxes.  We will be preserved forever!

Lizette and the group surrounded by acid-free boxes. We will be preserved forever!

For photographs, the copyright belongs to the photographer. This means we have to figure out who the photographer is so that we can request permission to post the photo.  This is an easy task if the photo is stamped with this information on the back….but involves some detective work when it isn’t.  Reading all of those Nancy Drew books in my childhood is going to come in handy!

We ended the day with dinner at a Mexican restaurant — our last dinner as a group before people start heading home on Tuesday afternoon.  Somehow no pictures were taken?  We have become lax as the trip ends.  It certainly wasn’t the margaritas.

(Disclaimer: That was a joke.  Obviously if margaritas were involved pictures *would* have been taken.)

Day 19: A quiet, rainy Sunday in Akron

It was our last Sunday in Akron and the weather did not cooperate!  It was raining and grey all day.

The day does not look promising.

The day does not look promising.

This means it wasn’t a good day for taking pictures.  Luckily, I have a photo from earlier in the trip that hasn’t been shared yet!

Akron is an art-friendly city. There is a great art gallery (that several of us attended on Thursday when admission was free!) and everywhere you look you can find outdoor sculpture.  On the UA campus they even have a 40 foot tall outdoor sculpture by renowned glass artist, Dale Chihuly!

This is actually made of polymer materials and is located outside of the Goodyear Polymer Center on campus.

This is actually made of polymer materials and is located outside of the Goodyear Polymer Center on campus.

Day 18: Our final Saturday in Akron

It was our final Saturday in Akron, so a group of us went back to the Countryside Conservancy Farmers Market for some more delicious food.  Between the chocolate-hazelnut croissants, fresh strawberries…

Fresh strawberries and a chocolate hazelnut croissant. Yum!

Yum!

…dumplings, and pies it was hard to know where to start! But several of the students opted for…

Blackberries and cream popsicles!  That's breakfast-y...right?

Blackberries and cream popsicles! That’s breakfast-y…right?

After the market we were back at the Center for a bit more work on the blog posts (they will be posted later this week!)

It looks so empty without all of our piles...

It looks so empty without all of our piles…

…and then to the Mustard Seed for dinner and some shopping.  Another successful day – only 4 more days to go!  Where has the time gone?

Day 17: Finished, for real this time!

Huzzah!   WE DID IT!  The Schopler collection is officially processed!

We received a lot of behind-the-scenes help from the wonderful staff at the Cummings Center.  We couldn’t have done it without Rhonda Rinehart, the special collections manager,

Our group with Rhonda even the emotion display models are happy that we have finished!

Our group with Rhonda — even the emotion display models are happy that we have finished!

and Emily Gainer, the Special Collections Librarian.

The wall of boxes around Emily's desk has not kept us from asking her lots of questions!

The wall of boxes around Emily’s desk has not kept us from asking her lots of questions!

After finishing up we celebrated with some coffee at Starbucks!  We also met with Dr. Ray Stanley, a human factors psychologist, who spoke with us about what it is like working in an applied psychology field.

Our group with Ray Stanley At the Starbucks (which is also our regular breakfast spot!)

Our group with Ray Stanley at the Starbucks (which is also our regular breakfast spot)

Next up, finalizing the FUSE content and blog posts so that we can share all of the cool stuff that we have learned.  Stay tuned!  The adventure isn’t over quite yet!

Day 16: We did it!! But wait! There is ONE LAST BOX. Arg!

After 7 full days of sorting and organizing…

Jenn and Alissa are relieved that the piles are getting smaller!

Jenn and Alissa are pleased that the piles are getting smaller!

…plastic clipping…

So many discarded paperclips!

So many discarded metal paperclips!  (Can you find the lone “approved” plastic clip in the picture?)

…foldering, labeling, boxing up…

How did Alyssa get stuck with the task of filing all of the slides?

Poor Alyssa got stuck with the task of boxing up all of the slides!

…and entering the data into the finding aid,  we thought that we had finished processing the Schopler collection!

Hooray!  Look at all of that organization!!

Could it be that we have finished???

 

But wait…

Mary and Kieran receiving some bad news...

Mary and Kieran receiving some bad news…

What is that in the corner???

Noooooo!  One last box!!!

Noooooo! One last box!!!

So close!!!

Day 15: Could it be? The end of sorting is in sight!

After four days away from the Center we were back at sorting with a vengeance.  We had three sections to finish organizing — Biography, TEACCH, and Correspondence — and we made a significant dent!  Only professional correspondence remains.  The rest of the collection is in folders and boxes.

Mary and Kieran started working on the finding aid,

Yes! Creating a finding aid IS as fun as Mary makes it look...

Yes! Creating a finding aid IS as fun as Mary makes it look…

…and Dov began scanning images for our FUSE page.

There is a lot of enthusiasm today! Perhaps the progress is going to our heads...

There is a lot of enthusiasm today! Perhaps the progress is going to our heads…

With only three full days left at the Center it will be a sprint to the end.  Do you think we will finish in time???