Constructivist Epistemologies Bronfenbrenners Ecological Systems Literature review

Constructivist Epistemologies Bronfenbrenners Ecological Systems Theory of Human Development in Contemporary Psychology - Literature review Example Piaget’s development of a framework for a constructivist epistemology as well as the need for the expression of this in a theory of social psychology can be seen as a fundamental influence on the development of Bronfenbrenner’s ‘Ecological Systems Theory’.1 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 I. Introduction 3 II. Constructivist Epistemology 5 III. Cognitive Synthesis & Knowledge Processing 7 IV. The Social Construction of Knowledge 8 V. The Role of Education in Knowledge Construction & Personal Development 10 VI. Ecology, Psychology, and Systems Theory 12 VII. Conclusion 14 15 VIII. References 15 â€Å"Ecological systems theory is an approach to study of human development that consists of the 'scientific study of the progressive, mutual accommodation, throughout the life course, between an active, growing human being, and the changing properties of the immediate settings in which the developing person lives, as this process is affected by the relations between these settings, and by the larger contexts in which the settings are embedded.† â€Å"Making Human Beings Human: Bioecological Perspectives on Human Development† + Urie Bronfenbrenner (2005, p.107) I. ... In the â€Å"Handbook of Child Psychology: Social, Emotional, and Personality Development† (2006), William Damon and Richard M. Lerner make the statement that "the self is a personal epistemology," which in its simplicity has profound implications for the approach to psychological methodology, a theory of knowledge, and also personal identity. (Damon & Lerner, 2006) Bronfenbrenner’s ‘Ecological Systems Theory’ of human development is based in a constructivist epistemology that explains personal development through interweaving environments that relate to knowledge systems in the family, school, workplace, culture, and history. Learning, memory, thinking, and behavior all include aspects of the way the mind apprehends, processes, and applies knowledge systems to the environment. In basing psychological methodology on a constructivist epistemology, a phenomenological approach to understanding human development through language, knowledge, and behavioral patte rn conditioning related to systems theory is proposed by Bronfenbrenner. Damon & Lerner (2006) cite the following studies as psychological references for the understanding of the self as a â€Å"personal epistemology†, the diversity accentuating the range of ‘Ecological Systems Theory’ in practical application: The â€Å"McMaster Model of Family Functioning† (NB Epstein, DS Bishop - Family Studies Review, 1984 – also: 1973, 1981, 1991) â€Å"Implicit Social Cognition: Attitudes, Self-esteem, and Stereotypes† (AG Greenwald, Psychological Review, 1995) â€Å"The Psychology of Personal Constructs - Vols. 1 & 2† (GA Kelly, New York: Norton: 1955) â€Å"The Self in Thought and Memory† (H Markus – ‘The Self in