Psychology

The Self As A Cognitive Construction

What is Psychology

 Psychology is the scientific study of how people behave, think, and

feel

 It includes topics, such as how the brain works, how our memory is
organized, how people interact in groups, and how children learn
about the world.
 In fact, everything that concerns the human being is a concern of
psychology. From the basic workings of the human brain to
consciousness, memory, reasoning, and language, to personality and
mental health, and everything about the human experience -
Psychology will scrutinize it so that you as human being will understand
how it is to be “you”.

 Psychologist Jean Piaget was a Swiss clinical psychologist know for his
pioneering work in child development.
 He pioneered the “theory of cognitive development”, a comprehensive
theory about the development of human intelligence. The theory dealt
with the nature of knowledge ; and how humans gradually come to
acquire, construct, and use it.
 Cognitive development is a progressive reorganization of mental
processes resulting from biological maturation and environmental
experience.
 Piaget claims that cognitive development is at the center of the human
organism
 For example, language is dependent on knowledge and understanding,
and the capacity to speak and express oneself through language can only
be acquired through the development of intelligence, conscious
thought, and problem-solving ability that begins in infancy
There are three basic components to
Piaget’s cognitive theory.
1. Schemas/scheme. There are the building blocks of
knowledge. Schemes are mental organizations that
individuals use to understand their environments and
designate action.
2. Adaptation. It involves the child’s learning processes to
meet situational demands
3. Stage of Cognitive Development. They reflect the
increasing sophistication of the child’s thought process.
 According to Piaget, the knowledge children acquire is organized into
schemas (scheme) or groupings of similar actions or thoughts. Over time
these schemes may change, but they provide an important base level of
information about particular events, objects, and information.
 Piaget describes two processes used by the individual in his/her attempt
to adapt – assimilation and accommodation

Assimilation – is the application of previous concepts to new concepts. For

example, a child who was just learned the word “fish!” upon seeing one.
Accommodation – happens when people encounter completely new
information or when existing ideas are challenged
For example, a child knows dogs and cats. At school, he/she learns the
word “animals”. The child will then adjust her understanding that dogs
and cats are both animals. People have to form a new schema or alter
existing mental categories to accommodate new information.

In the “Stages of Cognitive Development,” Piaget theorize that children

progress through 4 stages and that they all do so in the same order.
STAGE AGE CHARACTERISTICS OF STAGE

The child learns by doing: looking, touching, sucking,

Sensorimotor 0-2 the child also has a primitive understanding of cause-
and effect relationships. Object permanence appears
around 9 mos.
Preoperational 2-7 The child uses language and symbols, including
letters and numbers. Egocentrism is also evident.
Conservation marks the end of the preoperational
stage and the beginning of concrete operations.
Concrete Operations 7-11 The child demonstrates conversation, reversibility,
serial ordering, and a mature understanding of cause-
and-effect relationship. Thinking at this stage is still
concrete.
Formal Operations 12+ The individual demonstrates abstract thinking at this
stage is still concrete
Harter’s Self-Development Concept

The development of self-concept according to Harter is as follows:

Early childhood – the child describes the “self” of concrete, observable
characteristics, such as physical attributes (“I’m pretty/ugly/strong”),
material possessions (“I have lots of toys”), behaviors (“I love playing with
my toys”), and preferences (“I love candies”).

Middle or later childhood – the self is described in terms of traitlike

constructs (e.g. smart, honest, friendly, shy) that would require the type
of hierarchical organizational skills characteristics of logical thought.
Adolescence – emergence of more abstract self-definitions, such as
inner thoughts, emotions, attitudes, and motives. For example, a 15
year old girl in a study on self-conceptions described herself as
follows:
“what am I like as a person? complicated! I’m sensitive, friendly, outgoing,
popular, and tolerant though I can also be shy, self-conscious, even
obnoxious…”

Emerging Adults – the marked characteristics of “self” for emerging

adults is having a vision of a “possible self”. It is the age of
possibilities, time for “grand dreams”, of being wealthy and having a
glamorous occupation, but beyond emerging adulthood (ages 28 – 33)
the visions of a possible-self became more realistic, if still optimistic.
William James and The Me-Self; I-Self
“The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook”, wrote William
James in his groundbreaking masterpiece, The Principles of Psychology.
According to James, the “self” has 2 elements: the I-self and the Me-self
I-self is the pure ego. It is the subjective self. It is the “self” that is
aware of its own actions.
The I-self has four features:
1. A sense of being the agent or initiator of behavior
2. A sense of being unique
3. A sense of continuity
4. A sense of awareness of being aware
The Dimensions of the Me-self include:

1. Material
2. Social
3. Spiritua
It is apparent that in the psycho-social theory of development by Erik
Erikson it is alleged that identity is a goal leading to self-realization.

A strong sense of self is developed as an individual is properly integrated

onto the society and the institutions to which he is socialized.

Moreover, Michael Lewis (1990) suggested the two aspects of self- concept
which are found in the following:
1. The most basic part of the self-scheme or self-concept which is highly
distinct from other which is known as the Existential Self.
2. The Categorical Self is that which one considers himself as an object with
properties and may include one’s age, gender, size or skill. Each individual
is aware of his psychological traits, the evaluation of the significant others
as well as solutions to their daily concerns.

In addition to these Psychological conceptions of the “self”, Carl Rogers

(1959) asserted that self- concept has three different components:

1. Your “self-image” or the view you have of yourself influenced by

external factors such as expectations from the significant others.
2. Your “self-esteem” or “self-worth” is the value you assigned to yourself;
3. The “ideal self” is what you desire or expect of the “self”
A mismatch between your self-concept and what you expect to be highly
affects your self-esteem. One’s expectation of the self and life situation
can either result to congruence or incongruence.

Carl Rogers stated that to achieve self- actualization there must be a state
of congruence within the individual. Congruence exists when the “ideal
self” and the actual experience are consistent. During those points of
incongruence which is inevitable positivity is very necessary.
Erik Erikson and Self-Identity

According to Erik Erikson (1950s), youth must resolve two life “crises”
during adolescence.

The first crisis – typically occurs during early to middle adolescence and is
called the crisis of Identity versus Identity confusion.

This crisis represents the struggle to find a balance between developing

a unique, individual identity while still being accepted and “fitting in”.
Thus, youth must determine who they want to be, and how they to be
perceived by others. Erikson believed that when youth successfully navigate
this crisis they emerge with a clear understanding of their individual
identity and can easily share this “self” with others; therefore, they are
healthy and well-adjusted.

As a result, they are confident individuals who can freely associate with
other people without losing their own identity.

However, when youth fail to navigate this crisis successfully, they are
uncertain about who they are. Lacking this understanding, they can become
socially disconnected and cut-off from others; or conversely
They can develop an exaggerated sense of their own importance and may
adopt extremist positions. According to Erikson’s theory, when youth become
stuck at this stage, they will be unable to become emotionally mature adults.

The second crisis – occurring between late adolescence and early adulthood,
is called the crisis of intimacy versus isolation. This crisis represents the
struggle to resolve the reciprocal nature of intimacy, i.e. to achieve a mutual
balance between giving love and support, and receiving love and support.

Thus, youth must determine how to develop and to maintain close friendships
outside the family, as well as how to achieve reciprocity (give and take) in
romantic relationships.
Erikson believed that when youth successfully navigate this crisis they
emerge with the ability to form honest, reciprocal relationships with others
and have the capacity to bond with others to achieve common goals (e.g.
marriage).

When youth fail to navigate this crisis successfully, they can become distant
and self-contained; or conversely, they can become needy, dependent, and
vulnerable.

If youth do not resolve this crisis, their emotional development stalled, and
as a result, they will remain isolated and lonely without social supports.