Теория и научный метод в возрастной психологии. Горчакова Е.П - 6 стр.

        The second major theorist whose life we will examine is Jean Piaget.
Piaget (1896–1980) was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland. Jean's father was an
intellectual who taught young Jean to think systematically. Jean's mother was
also very bright. His father had an air of detachment from his mother, whom
Piaget described as prone to frequent outbursts of neurotic behavior.
       In his autobiography, Piaget detailed why he chose to study cognitive
development        rather     than   social     or     abnormal        development:
I started to forego playing for             Though this interest helped
serious work very early.                    me to achieve independence
Indeed, I have always detested              and widen my cultural
any departure from reality, an              background, I have never
attitude which I relate to…                 since felt any desire to involve
my mothers poor health. It                  myself deeper in that
was this disturbing factor                  particular direction, always
which at the beginning of my                much preferring the study of
studies in psychology made                  normalcy and of the workings
me keenly interested in                     of the intellect to that of the
psychoanalytic and                          tricks of the unconscious.
pathological psychology.                    (Piaget, 1952a, p. 238)
       These excerpts from Erikson's and Piaget's lives illustrate how personal
experiences might influence the direction in which a particular theorist goes.
Erikson's own wanderings and search for self contributed to his theory of identity
development, and perhaps Piaget's intellectual experiences with his parents and
schooling contributed to his emphasis on cognitive development.

READING COMPREHESION
I. Decide which of the choices a, b, c or d is the correct answer.
  1. A person interested in developing a theory goes through all but which of the
    following
    a) a long university training program
    b) examining his own experiences
    c) ignoring any background information in a particular area to research
    d) various ideas about a particular field of investigation
  2. E. Erikson’s father was
    a) German                                     c) French
    b) Danish                                     d) Dutch
  3. Erikson attended primary school and gymnasium at which he studied
    a) humanitarian subjects                      c) art
    b) science                                    d) foreign languages
  4. J. Piaget chose to study cognitive rather than social or abnormal development
    because
    a) he wasn’t interested in psychoanalytic and pathological psychology.

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