Heinz Werner
Biography
1890-1964
Born: Vienna
Worked with William Stern (of IQ fame) and
Jacob
von Uexkull (the early ethologist) at University of Hamburg. He
was also influenced by the Leipzig School of Gestalt psychology. In
1926 he wrote The Psychology of Mental Development. Because of
the Nazis, he was forced to leave Hamburg in 1933. He finally settled
in the USA and worked at the Wayne County Technical School from
1936-43. Brooklyn College hired him in 1943. He moved to Clark
University in 1947 and remained there.
Gestalt Psychology
Definition: The study of psychology as a coherent whole,
acknowledging that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts."
Gestalt is German for "form" but with the added idea that the form is
particularly perceptible. Gestalt psychologists did a great deal of
work in perception, but also in learning and development.
Theoretical Underpinnings
- The Orthogenic Principle defines development:
"...development...proceeds from a state of relative lack of
differentiation to a state of increasing differentiation and
hierarchic integration." The processes below work at many levels.
- Differentiation--the process where tissues, organs, and
individuals change into component parts.
- Hierarchic Integration--the process in development in which
control shifts to higher integrating centers.
- Growth--the change in size of tissues, organs, and
individuals without any differentiation.
- End State--a full description of the final features of
development. For example, the stages necessary to become a
musician or to become a teacher.
- Self-object Differentiation--the process of separating
the self from the environment. According to Werner, this process
occurs in stages or levels:
- Sensori-motor and affective level--environment is hardly
noticed at all except as it impinges on self in real time.
Little self-object differentiation.
- Perceptual level--Some objective self-object
differentiation, but objects are primarily identified with use
or relationship to self. Demo
- Conceptual Level--Abstract dimensions, objective way of
handling world, scientific.
- Microgenesis--the process of solving problems, it re-occurs
each time a new problem is encountered. Some can reverse the
process (i.e., artists), but most cannot.
- Microgenetic Mobility--the ability to reverse the process of
microgenesis.
- The Comparative Approach--looking at behavior across cultures
and species. Behaviors that are seen in different cultures can be
viewed as more primitive.
- Primitive--in evolutionary terms, primitive means original.
Do not confuse with common use of the word. In development,
primitive also refers to earlier ways of thinking. Werner was
interested in revealing primitive thinking.
- Organismic Orientation--viewing a problem from the point of
view of the whole animal, not from the point of view of a
disembodied process. Thus, studying perception as it relates to
human beings vs. wolves is organismic. Studying olfaction by
itself is not.
- Interactionism--gauging the effects of multiple forces on
development both individually and in toto.
- Equilibrium and Disequilibrium--development alternates between
equilibrium, or balance with environment and disequilibrium, or
lack of balance. Compare to Piaget's notion of equilibration and
his mechanisms of assimilation and accomodation.
- Critical Periods--Werner believed in critical periods. He
allowed for three: weaning, resistance of young child, and
pubescence.
Data
- Syncretic vs. Discrete--syncretic means that processes are
still linked together. This linkage was especially notable in
children's views on time and space.
- Time--Children and unindustrialized peoples are very likely
to perceive events in the context of when they occur, not in
terms of clock time (i.e., discrete). For example: lunch time,
harvest time, hunting season.
- Space--Syncretic perceptions of space, again seen in
children and in unindustrialized peoples, link space with
emotion. So, descriptions are NOT given in terms of North and
South, or miles and kilometers.
- Imagery
- Eidetic imagery--a significant proportion of children
appear to have the ability to continue to perceive a visual
image even after it is withdrawn from their view. That
ability is called eidetic imagery. Eidetic imagery typically
disappears with the advent of reading. It is also more
common in preliterate peoples.
- Syncretic aspects--children and unindustrialized peoples
often describe objects in terms of the contexts in which
they are perceived, i.e., "Daddy's car and Mommy's car."
- Physiognomic Perception--physiognomy relates to the face
and its expressions. Werner believed that children applied
terms adults reserve for human emotional expression to
inanimate objects. Thus, happy chairs and sad chairs are
something a child might talk about. Adults still retain some of
this type of thinking. What gender is a cat? Which line is
happier?
- Synesthesia--syncretic perception where one percept calls
up another or calls up an emotion. For instance, think of sad
music, a happy tune, a somber face. Such activity is often seen
in psychotic patients too.
- Language
- Viewed as a category of symbol formation.
- Emerge from bodily-organismic activity, i.e., pointing
- Primitive symbols include motoric imitations
- Physiognomic symbols involve the voice and changes in speed
and volume
- Adults, according to Werner, never completely leave the
physiognomic stage
Theory
- Multiple threads of development
- sensori-motor
- perception
- physiognomic perception
- conceptual thought
- Continuity--Discontinuity
- Werner falls more toward discontinuous (qualitative change)
side of this issue.
- Phenomenology
- Trying to look at world from child's viewpoint. Think of
chairs and other adult-sized objects from a child's view.
Remember what Maya Angelou said about the bridge at Stamps when
she returned to it as an adult.
Applications
- Adult learning
- Use of microgenetic mobility in physician training (use
primitive cognitive methods before using conceptual ones).
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