The Egocentrism - Essay Example

Egocentrism Jean Piaget (1896-1980) claimed that “young children are egocentric. This does not mean that they are selfish, but that they do not havethe mental ability to understand that other people may have different opinions and beliefs from themselves. Piaget did a test to investigate egocentrism called the mountains study. He put children in front of a simple plaster mountain range and then asked them to pick from four pictures the view that he, Piaget, would see. Younger children picked the picture of the view they themselves saw” (Wikipedia, 2007). According to Elkind (1967), “adolescent egocentrism, which includes a belief by teenagers that they are special and unique, accompanies the attainment of new mental abilities. Specifically, Elkind proposed that adolescents construct an "imaginary audience," giving rise to heightened self-consciousness. Adolescents believe that others, especially peers, are watching them, thinking about them, and interested in all their thoughts and behaviors. Elkind suggested that this is due, in part, to emerging formal operational thought, which allows adolescents to think about their own thinking and that of others (Elkind, 1967). Adolescent egocentrism actually represents a flaw in their thinking that is characteristic of early formal operations. Adolescents assume that since they spend a considerable amount of time thinking about themselves, others must be doing the same thing, namely, thinking about and monitoring them. They fail to realize that while they may be preoccupied with themselves, others are not so inclined” (Rycek et al. 1998). From the above two definitions it is understood that egocentrism is present in all individuals. Egocentrism, in relation to child growth, is a feaure of child development stage, unable to judge or adjust to others perspectives and the child create an understanding that others view things exactly same as the child’s view. Whereas adolescent egocentrism, they think that they are mentally matured, unique and great, and raise their self- consciousness and create their own imaginations. They believe that others are observing and appreciating them. So one can say adolescent egocentrism is an impairement in their thinking because of the earlier life stages. They believe that others are also thinking the same way as they do but fail to understand that others may not be interested to think in the same direction as they do. Successful social contact needed for accepting that others may not understand the world exactly as someone else does. Motivational levels, outlooks, awareness, or even visual perception can lead people to explain the same incident extremely different, and a failure to know these variations can lead to lack of adequate communication and disagreement. Humans are not born with adequate social performance and precise outlook but these skills gradually developed. Before attaining this level of development children/students believe that their insights about the world are precise expression of its real properties and others also see the world as they do. For example, Children below 4 years of age can not differentiate between what they know and what others know. Obviously these particular egocentric errors are child’s play and students at teenage rarely commit them. But teenagers do not seem to surpass their child-like view in total, since a wide range of social decisions are still egocentrically biased. Even though research that recognized these occurrences did not compare children with adults, it does reveal that egocentrism is not just a transient stage of childhood, but a reality of life. At any rate two clarifications appear sensible. Primarily, adults are less egocentric than children because they are less likely to use their own outlook when evaluating other’s understanding, but rely on totally different mental practice for perspective taking. Eventually, adults may get hold of domain specific assumptions about how other minds work that are applied when adopting another’s outlook similar to the same way that a person relates a formula when solving mathematic problems. Going through many experiences, adults learn that their perceptions can differ from others in definite ways. When those ways are identified, they replace assumptions based on one’s own unique perspective. Students comparing to children are less egocentric because they tend to apply less egocentric theories when adopting another’s perspective. Another possibility is that elderly students and children share routine egocentric default in perspective taking that students, gradually, become better in improving through their experiences when necessary. So one can say that elderly students are less egocentric than children, not because they are less likely to take their perceptions egocentrically, but fairly they are improved at correcting by putting effort. These views of perspective taking make diverse forecast of social cognition in children and adults. This theory suggests that children and adults connect in different mental processes when accepting the perspective of another, with children applying more egocentric theories than adults. The egocentric-correction details, in contrast, propose that adults and children do not differ in their initial egocentric understanding, but in the speed and effectiveness with which they overcome that interpretation (Epley et al. 2004). As students start practice thinking on them and give more importance to their own ideas, a process that make them separate from others. They are concerned about how others are thinking about them. They try to solve their own contradictory approach about parents, school and close friends. They do not think sensibly about their future goals. Examining their own thought and feelings, predicting their potential, and reflecting on their own experiences create the high self-awareness and superior capability for self-centeredness. But, these new method in self examinations are most likely unclear by student egocentrism, a self-realization in which students regard themselves as much more publicly important than they really are (sasked.gov., N.D.). Earlier stages of child growth, between the ages of two and seven, children are thought to be egocentric. This egocentric deed is an important part of growth. As they start to discover the world, they come to know how the surroundings around them react to what they do. The child seems to stand at the center of their own world. They are time and again longing notice and awareness from parents in order to please their egocentric actions. This stubborn and frustratingly self-centered manner is typically explained by this concept of egocentrism. As the children grow into the world they happen to be more conscious of the powers around them. When societys pressure starts influence the decision of the child, they are no more considered egocentric. Once they grow into adulthood, where ego or individuality plays a different role. Students use egoism as a means of self-motivation. Competition plays an enormous role within the real world. All through his/her high school one could make good grades or perform properly for entry to a good college, but the reality is that one can go to any college and basically get the same schooling. When some one enter the higher education scheme where competition becomes an important aspect to excel among all others and also the fact that persons performance in college decide his or her future career. Contest is the aspect of individualism that drives the entire society. Politics is another prefect example where the pessimistic insinuation of ego or individualism is valuable to society. The main goal of a politician is to do extremely well in his career as far as possible. Even though egocentric activities are generally considered to be the burdens of society, at other times it is easy to show how this egocentrism can be helpful to society. It is important to understand that egocentrism to an extent drives the youth to attain confidence and drives adult to stand out in society. Hence ego, in spite of its negative implication, is vital to for the growth of the humanity (Anjum, 2007). Critical thinking is the manner of thinking, about any subject or problem, in which the thinker develop the excellence of his or her thinking by competently studying, evaluating, and rebuilding it. All the aspect of critical thinking is independent, ascetic, self-monitored, and self-critical. It assumes concur to thorough principles of excellence and aware control of their use. It involves efficient communication and problem-solving capability, in addition to a commitment to conquer our inhabitant egocentrism. A real critical thinker requires qualities such as: raise crucial questions and problems, devising them clearly and accurately; collects and evaluates pertinent information, using theoretical ideas to interpret it efficiently; comes out with well-reasoned conclusions and resolutions, testing them against relevant principles and values; Thinks open mindedly; and corresponds well with others for explanation to multifaceted problems. Another way of defining critical thinking as thinking that openly aims at logical judgment and therefore makes use of suitable evaluative standards in the attempt to decide the true value, merit, or value of something. The practice of study into critical thinking mirror the common awareness that human thinking left to it repeatedly attracts toward intolerance, over-generalization, common erroneous belief, self-deception, rigidity, and narrowness. The basic idea of critical thinking is very simple. One could define it as the art of taking charge of the mind. If one can take charge of his own minds, he can take charge of his lives; he can develop them, bringing them under his command and direction. Certainly, this needs to learn self-discipline and the art of self-examination. This involves getting into the habit of thoughtfully exploring the impetuous and habituated ways of thinking. Critical thinking is an eminent and realistic goal and value. It is based on the abilities, the insights, and the values necessary to that end. It is a way of going around living and learning that empowers the students in quite sensible ways. It can change every aspect of school life: how to make and promulgate rules; how one can give confidence to them to relate to each other; how can improve their reading, writing, speaking, and listening habits etc (Criticalthinking.org, 2006). Finally, to improve the critical thinking about any subject or problems the positive aspect of egocentrism can be used. Instead blindly opposing others perspective if one considers looking into and accommodating others valuable ideas critical thinking can change the out look of the world. It assumes consent to meticulous values of excellence and control of their use. It needs efficient communication and analytical abilities, in addition to take responsibility to rise above our negative egocentrism. References Anjum, M. (2007) Egocentrism: just plain evil or necessary evil? The Pine Log, Retrived on 17 March 2007 from http://media.www.thepinelog.com/media/storage/paper954/news/2007/02/26/Opinion/Egocentrism.Just.Plain.Evil.Or.Necessary.Evil-2742620.shtml Criticalthinking.org, (2006) Our Concept of Critical Thinking Retrived on 16 March 2007 from http://www.criticalthinking.org/aboutCT/ourConceptCT.cfm Elkind, D. (1967). Egocentrism in adolescence. Child Development, 38, 1025-1034. Epley, N., Morewedge, C.K. and Keysar, B. (2004) Perspective taking in children and adults: Equivalent egocentrism but differential correction. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 40: 760–768. Rycek, R,F., Stuhr, S.L., McDermott, J., Benker, J. and Swartz, M.D. (1998) Adolescent egocentrism and cognitive functioning during late adolescence, Adolescence: Issues from Winter 1998. sasked.gov., (N.D.) Unit Six:  Adolescence, Retrived on 18 March 2007 from http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/social/psych30/unit_six.htm Wikipedia, (2007) Egocentrism, 24 February 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Retrived on 16 March 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egocentrism Read More