What is CONSTRUCTIVISM in Psychology: Origin and Characteristics

The following theory may not sound too familiar to you, however, I have to anticipate that it is one of the most influential in the development of psychology current as we know it.

It is neither more nor less than constructivism. Does it sound familiar to you? If so, you can be happy now, because not many people know of its existence. But if you do not know it, do not worry, we are here from Psychology-Online to tell you what is constructivism in psychology, the origin of this current and its characteristics.

Index

1. What is constructivism in psychology
2. Origin of constructivism in psychology
3. Characteristics of constructivism in psychology
4. History of constructivism in psychology
5. Types of constructivism

According to constructivism, it is considered that there is no reality independent of the individual, that is, can reality be considered real? Thus, the same reality is in two ways:

• Reality itself, which according to Piaget cannot be known.
• Reality in me: what I want from the world and become my own reality.

That is, what really exists and what I actually perceive.

If we have to assign to any author the creation of this current, that has to be Jean piaget, who based on his studies on the evolution of children's knowledge, tried to explain developmental psychology and formulated his learning theory.

Constructivism intends to create a theory to achieve a correct explanation to the formation of knowledge. This one manages, through this theory, to overcome the existing antagonism between rationalist authors and empiricists. To achieve this, it is based on the fact that knowledge of reality is constructed by the subject himself from the own mechanisms available and, therefore, experience is of great importance at the individual level of each person.

Constructivism is considered a meta-concept, that is, it is a different way of thinking about knowing and learning. As Araya (2007) points out, a series of principles can be named which try to explain constructivism:

• Principle of interaction of man with the environment.
• Principle of the prior conditioning experience of the knowledge to be built.
• Principle of elaboration of "meaning" in the world of experience.
• Active organization principle.
• Principle of functional adaptation between knowledge and reality.

It is also worth noting the role of people in constructivism and how they are considered within this perspective. Aznar (1992) describes it like this:

• Being constitutionally unfinished, which it has to be done, built.
• It is constitutionally open, so it has the possibility of projecting its life and building itself according to its purposes.
• It needs to be built and this need can only be satisfied through your actions and your activity.
• It has the language, which multiplies and enriches its possibilities of action.
• It requires a medium with which to interact.

Piaget decides to confront the innate and empiricist positions that dominated at that time, so that it proposes the idea that knowledge is simply the result of the interaction between a subject and the reality in which he lives. Here you will find detailed Piaget's stage theory.

At no time does it arise to deny the existence of a series of innate capacities and knowledge, since These are what allow children to initiate an interaction with the world and thus guarantee their survival.

Within the same current of constructivism, we find a series of criteria that allow it to be organized in different expressions.

Before proceeding to explain the different currents, I see it necessary to emphasize that constructivism continues to be present in current psychology, so cannot be considered to have disappeared in its entirety, as with other focuses. While it is true that it has received many criticisms, it has helped and continues to help understand the development of knowledge.

Constructivism has different branches and perspectives:

Psychological constructivism

This is intended to explain how the world works based on the nature of change and causality. Within it, four different hypotheses are distinguished to give an explanation to this.

• The formism: It is based on the processes of classification and identification, so that, for this theory, the establishment of distinctions is the fundamental cognitive activity.
• Mechanism: it is based on the assumption that the phenomena that occur every day can be understood in terms of their cause-effect relationships.
• Contextualism: part of the basic idea that the world is a collection of events interconnected by a series of changing patterns.
• Organicism: all phenomena are confronted by oppositions and contradictions which give rise to changes of greater complexity.

Material constructivism

This theory is closely related to the formist hypothesis previously named, since it raises the material causality that the stable properties of phenomena account for their own functioning.

Within it, a perspective known as the radical constructivism. This is concerned with the construction of personal meanings through experiences denying the existence of metaphysical truth.

Efficient constructivism

This posture identifies knowledge as an active process where environmental inputs (stimuli) are interpreted and stored as meaningful information. You could say that it shows a connection with a mechanistic hypothesis.

Formal constructivism

The knowledge from those contradictions created as a consequence of the continuous interactions between individuals and their environment. It uses the concept of final causality as the result of a dynamic and changing knowledge that evolves to obtain a greater complexity and capacity for abstraction.

Educational constructivism

Humans are conceived as individuals motivated towards learning in order to develop their full capabilities and thereby achieve a complete understanding of the world in which they live. It starts from the idea of ​​an active individual who is guided by a series of teachers who will stimulate him so that he can overcome a series of stages.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to What is constructivism in psychology: origin and characteristics, we recommend that you enter our category of Evolutionary Psychology.

• Araya, V., Alfaro, M., & Andonegui, M. (2007). Constructivism: origins and perspectives. Laurus, 13(24), 76-92.
• Aznar, P. (1992) Constructivism and education. Valencia: Tirant lo blanch.
• Clemente, R. Evolutionary Psychology II. Jaume I University (2015).
• Hernández, C. Evolutionary Psychology. Jaume I University (2015).