He Process of knowledge acquisition Is the model through which the human being learns and develops his intelligence, that is, he builds knowledge.
There are several theories that explain the process of knowledge acquisition. In this sense, there is no single process but there are as many as theories have been presented.
For example, Jean Piaget Argues the genetic psychological theory, according to which the process of acquisition of knowledge begins in childhood.
At this stage, the subject comes into contact with the environment, relates to objects and acquires knowledge. This stage is involuntary, since the desire for learning comes from the other members of the environment and not from the child.
Also, Piaget points out that the acquisition of knowledge is a process of construction and deconstruction. This means that the child acquires simple knowledge and"builds"them through assimilation.
Subsequently, the child will add more knowledge, so his previous ideas must be de-built to form new knowledge.
We will then explain in depth this and other theories of knowledge acquisition.
Genetic Psychological Theory
Genetic psychological theory, by Frenchman Jean Piaget, indicates that knowledge is acquired through processes of construction and deconstruction.
Knowledge is built once it has been learned and destroyed and rebuilt when new information is added to it.
Thus, the process of construction-deconstruction is repeated over and over again throughout the life of human beings.
According to Piaget, the development of knowledge occurs through four stages, which he calls cognitive periods. These four periods follow each other in the following order:
1- Period of reflexes , In which sensory-motor intelligence influences. The first stage goes from birth to language acquisition (from 0 to 2 years old, more or less).
One of the main examples of this stage is the suction reflex: when an object is brought to the lips of a baby, it sucks. Another example is that when a child is going to fall, try to decrease the damage of the fall by putting their hands as protection.
2- Period of habits , Marked by the symbolism of actions and not by a reflection on this. In most cases, actions are carried out through imitation. This stage ranges from 2 years to 7 years
For example, the child brushes his teeth because his parents have told him to do such a thing, not because he knows it is a measure of hygiene. The child only imitates.
3- Period of concrete intellectual operations , In which the child begins to analyze the information thoroughly. This stage occurs between 7 and 11 years.
Logic intervenes at this stage and allows the child to move toward an almost adult level of understanding.
In this sense, the child is able to perform inductive reasoning, in which they draw conclusions from two or more premises. However, the deductions are out of reach in most cases.
4- Period of formal intellectual operations , The final stage of the acquisition of knowledge, which occurs between 12 and 20 years. In this period, the young person is in the capacity to make both inductions and deductions.
This stage is also known as the stage of abstract intellectual operations, because the human being is capable of reasoning around abstract concepts.
Likewise, metacognition is given, which is the ability to think about thought.
Theory of the acquisition of knowledge from printed materials
In accordance with Ausubel , Printed materials are one of the best ways to acquire knowledge once the process begins to be voluntary.
That is, when the human being makes the decision to learn (between 7 and 11 years), the easiest way is to do it through reading printed texts.
In this theory, Ausebel argues that learning through written texts adapts to the particular needs of each student: they adapt to their level of intelligence and their level of prior knowledge about the subject (because you can choose which book to choose for Each level of learning). Likewise, it is coupled to the reading speed.
Theory of the macrostructure
The theory of the macrostructure is related to the Ausebel theory, since it raises that the reading and understanding of the written texts are processes of acquisition of knowledge. This theory was raised by Van Dijk and Kintsh.
The macrostructure theory states that when reading a text, the reader is faced with two levels of understanding: microstructure and macrostructure.
The microstructure refers to the understanding of the words and the individual propositions that form the text. It is the superficial structure of the discourse, since it does not go beyond the form of the words.
For its part, the macrostructure refers to the understanding of the text as a whole. At this level, the reader must understand the meaning of propositions as a set and not as isolated individual units. That is, it comes in contact with the deep structure of the text.
At this point, the reader can discard ideas that are not important for their process of acquiring knowledge and assimilate those that are.
In this sense, there are several techniques that allow to acquire the knowledge of the macrostructure, among which are the suppression, generalization and construction.
The suppression consists of discarding ideas that are not relevant to the overall meaning of the text. For its part, generalization is a technique that allows summarizing in a single proposition the content of several.
Finally, construction is the technique through which part of the information is inferred and the meaning is reconstructed. This technique involves the advanced understanding of the macrostructure of the text.
References
- Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from en.wikipedia.org
- The Psychology of Learning and Motivations. Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from books.google.com
- Cognitive Learning Theories by Ausebel. Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from es.slideshare.net
- Ausebel's Learning Theories. Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from myenglishpages.com
- Jean Piaget. Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from simplypsychology.org
- Cognitive Development Theories. Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from learning-theories.com
- Piaget's Theory of Learning. Retrieved on August 2, 2017, from journal-archives27.webs.com.