ABSTRACT
Wolfgang Kohler's research had an important effect upon American learning theory because it emphasized the importance of insight—Gestalt—as an alternative to trial-and-error. The role of experience in learning is critical, for it affects important aspects of school curriculum planning. But, if learning strategies are based on a Gestalt approach, then the background of student is only an aid to learning. Jean Piaget believes that mental development is a process of adaptation to environment—that this is essential, biologically motivated element in process of mental growth. The keystone of Piaget's theory is his concept of stages of development, which he has formulated as follows: sensorimotor development, preoperational stage, concrete operations, and formal operations. Every mental encounter with an environmental object involves some kind of cognitive structuring or restructuring of that object in accordance with presently available schemata. Psychological theories—whether behaviorist or developmental, external or internal in emphasis—can be regarded as systems of verbal constructs that are believed to describe the learning process.
