Kurt Fischer and Halford are two renown neo-Piagetian and their theories are widely studied with regards to neo-Piagetian theories. They have fundamental differences in how they approach cognitive development although they also have a few similarities. Fischer’s theory looks at skill is the main element of analysis when it comes to cognitive development and is unique among neo-Piagetian theories due to its emphasis on the effect of the environmental and social interactions on a person. It argues that skill can neither be solely attributed to the individual nor the environment, but it is dependent on the context in which the skill is being analyzed (Fischer, & Farrar, et al 1987). Halford, on the other hand, argues that analogical thinking is the central way of comprehending new concepts since it allows the meaning of the concept to be transferred from what is already known to other ones. According to Halford, structural mapping is a suitable mechanism which can make analogical reasoning to work. Structure mapping translates the specifics of a problem into representations which are existing and are well understood. Structure mapping is an important process since following stages in a problem-solving exercise like the clarification of the problem intentions and the necessary approaches rely on the depiction which structure mapping can produce. This is to say that a person’s cognitive ability is as the result of the relations between the different structures that are involved in the issue.
In terms of cognitive development, both theories can be divided into four levels each. Fischer’s theory is divided into four levels of cognitive development. The first stages are the stage of reflexes which organizes the elementary reflexes is constructed in the first month of inception. The second stage is the sensorimotor stage which runs on views and actions. The subsequent tier is known as the representational stage which runs on depictions which are expressive of certainty. The last stage is called the abstract stage which runs on ideas incorporating the representation tier. The Fischer theory description of cognitive change is very different from Halford theory. Even though Fischer is not against the use of information dispensation restrains on change, he holds on the social and environmental factors instead of the individual characteristics as roots of change. Halford also categorizes development in four main sets of causes. Learning and induction is the first category. This category allows an adult to get knowledge of the world he/she lives in. the knowledge acts as the raw material made to generate the schemes as well as the mental schemes concerning the different elements of the globe which can be introduced in the structure mapping activity in order for to build greater concepts and solve problems(Bakker, & Halford, et al 1988). The other category is the conceptual chunking which allows the minimization of representation into other depictions. Additional information can be processed in this process under identical capacity constraints. Chunking develops the processing ability because more information is processed under the same capacity resources. The development of segmentation approaches is the third category set by Halford theory. This category helps a person to simplify concepts into simple ones which are easy to understand. The last category is the development of processing ability. This factor assists a person to denote concepts of advanced dimensionality.
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Halford theory argues that the first categories are the most experimental. Development of processing capacity is no less than somewhat maturational (Bakker, & Halford, et al 1988). This element confines the concepts which can be generated. Chunking and segmentation factors are cores of processing efficacy. These two factors work as the processes for attaining the obtainable potentials formed by processing ability in order to reach the limits. Halford theory defines cognitive development as a contact of maturation that results to representations on greater dimensionality, as well as experience which leads to a knowledge unit which generates schemes and approaches which can assist an adult to minimize the processing loads of work. Halford theory is a hard capacity theory which clarifies the mechanism at the base of the transition within the core movements of cognitive development.
A major difference in the Fischer’s and Halford’s theory is how they interpret the relations that the individual is thinking about. Fischer’s theory, being highly based on the environmental and social context the individual finds themselves in, acknowledges the influence that the individual has with other elements in their surrounding and how they interact with the individual’s cognitive abilities. This means that an individual’s cognitive responses to a particular issue may be different depending on the context in which they encounter the issue and is affected by other issues such as age. Therefore, with regards to adult education, it is expected that age will have an effect on an individual’s processing and problem-solving skills. Halford’s theory does not take into account these relational influences and is largely silent on the effect that issues such as age have on a person’s speed of processing and even their control processes all of which affect their problem-solving skills.
Adulthood cognitive development and the implications for adult education
With regard to Fischer theory, cognitive development in adults is dynamic and the development changes take place in multiple levels. The intelligence of an adult can be ascertained by one domain or one developmental level. The intelligence in adult changes and becomes more complicated, socially oriented, more constructive and flexible. The development in adults happens in various shapes. Cognitive development takes place in a number of specified mechanisms for the formation and adapting skills (Horn, & Donaldson, 1980). This mechanism pops up as new and the best stage for a particular domain. They later develop slowly and progressively as functional processes. The main impetus to the activity of creating new strategies to the shortfalls of the changing world happens to consider learning with other people from different demographics. With the help of Fischer theory, an adult can solve problems in their multifaceted lives better and enjoyable (Demetriou, 2006). This is because adults are able draw upon the different contexts that they have encountered the problem in and come up with the best solution for the problem in their current context. The implications for this on adult education is that it will shift the focus to the different experiences that the adults have gone through and hope that these experiences led to the development of a particular skill which is manifested when the individual finds themselves in a similar situation as the earlier experiences. This assumption will lead to the belief that adulthood comes with the development of particular skills due to the experiences the individual has and can be used to promote and encourage adult education in an attempt to formally recognize the cognitive abilities that the individual possesses.
In Halford’s theory, learning is through stages where one first goes through a stage of gathering information through various learning materials before developing mechanisms of breaking down the information into simpler understandable bits. Therefore, the more the information and individual attains, the better they are able to deal with the issues beforehand. Halford’s theory has two main cycles with the first cycle focusing more on the individual’s maturation than their experiences and the second cycle focusing more on their experiences since segmental learning has already been achieved in this case.
Both Halford and Fischer emphasize the importance of experience in the cognitive development of an individual which most times comes with age (Demetriou, 2006). The implications of this on adult learning is that it will be highly encouraged as researchers will define adults as being full of experiences that can be well utilized to enhance their cognitive abilities and problem-solving skills. More people will enroll for adult learning classes on the basis on having had different experiences in different contexts which increases their abilities of developing higher skill sets. This group is developed enough to balance their work life, family and education at the same time. They can handle work stress, feelings of academic alienation, domestic matters and academics better than their juniors. Many of this group want to study to get work promotions, prepare for another career or become entrepreneurs unlike there juniors who are after completing the curriculum and start looking for jobs. Many of them opt for distance learning or virtual education but end up performing well because they are focused.
References
Horn, J. L., & Donaldson, G. (1980). 10 Cognitive Developments in Adulthood. Constancy and change in human development, 445.
Bakker, P. E., & Halford, G. S. (1988). A basic computational theory of structure-mapping in analogy and transitive inference. Unpublished Tech. Rep, 88(1).
Demetriou, A. (2006). Neo-Piagetian Theories of Cognitive Development. Theories, Models and Methods, Volume of Encyclopedia of Psychology (pp. 191-263). Gotingen: Hogrefe-Verlag
Fischer, K. W., & Farrar, M. J. (1987). Generalizations about generalization: How a theory of skill development explains both generality and specificity. International Journal of Psychology, 22(5-6), 643-677.
