Andreas Demetriou
Encyclopedia
Andreas Demetriou (Greek
: Ανδρέας Δημητρίου) is a well known Greek Cypriot developmental psychologist and a former Minister of Education and Culture of Cyprus.
, Cyprus
, on 15 August 1950. He is married to Julia Tsakalea and he has two sons, Pantelis and Demetris. After graduating from Pancyprium Gymnasium, the oldest secondary school in Cyprus, he went to Thessaloniki, Greece, where he studied psychology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He received a PhD in psychology in 1983. He was a professor of Developmental Psychology
at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki until 1996. He then moved to the University of Cyprus, where he was a professor of psychology until he became the Minister of Education and Culture.
. From the very beginning he attempted to develop a comprehensive theory of cognitive development aiming to integrate the empirically valid aspects of Piaget
´s theory with psychometric and cognitive theory. That is, the theory aimed to describe and explain intellectual development through the life span, individual differences in the rate and directions of intellectual development, and the cognitive mechanisms underlying development and individual differences. According to this theory, the human mind is organized in three functional levels. The first is the level of processing potentials, which involves information processing
mechanisms underlying the ability to attend to, select, represent, and operate on information. The other two of levels involve knowing processes, one oriented to the environment and another oriented to the self. The level oriented to the environment includes thought processes and functions that specialize in the representation and processing of information coming from different domains of the environment. Six domains are specified: Categorical, quantitative, causal, spatial, propositional, and social thought. The self-oriented level includes functions and processes oriented to monitoring, representing, and regulating processing potentials and the environment-oriented systems. It underlies executive control and planning
and it generates self-perceptions that converge on a self-image that shape how we view and avail ourselves to problem solving
and social interactions. Recently, he studies the relations between intellectual development and personality development
and also the relations between intellectual development and brain
development. He is also working on the educational applications of his theory., This theory is presented in more than 150 books and articles, such as (1) The Architecture and Dynamics of Developing Mind, (2) The Development of Mental Processing , and (3) Unity and Modularity in the Mind and the Self. The journals New Ideas in Psychology Developmental Review, and Developmental Science devoted special issues in the discussion of aspects of his theory.
education which includes the development of new curricula across all subjects and grades from preschool to senior high school and the expansion of the university system of the country. He also contributed to elevating Cypriot universities into regional centres of excellence and cooperation. Moreover, he reformed the system of cultural governance so that creators and people of culture are involved in the decision making mechanisms concerning arts and culture. Finally, he attempted to improve the efficiency of the Ministry through a series of changes in its administrative operation.
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Ανδρέας Δημητρίου) is a well known Greek Cypriot developmental psychologist and a former Minister of Education and Culture of Cyprus.
Life
He was born in Strongylo, FamagustaFamagusta
Famagusta is a city on the east coast of Cyprus and is capital of the Famagusta District. It is located east of Nicosia, and possesses the deepest harbour of the island.-Name:...
, Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, on 15 August 1950. He is married to Julia Tsakalea and he has two sons, Pantelis and Demetris. After graduating from Pancyprium Gymnasium, the oldest secondary school in Cyprus, he went to Thessaloniki, Greece, where he studied psychology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He received a PhD in psychology in 1983. He was a professor of Developmental Psychology
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology, also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes, emotional changes, and perception changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to...
at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki until 1996. He then moved to the University of Cyprus, where he was a professor of psychology until he became the Minister of Education and Culture.
Research
His research focuses on cognitive developmentCognitive development
Cognitive development is a field of study in neuroscience and psychology focusing on a child's development in terms of information processing, conceptual resources, perceptual skill, language learning, and other aspects of brain development and cognitive psychology compared to an adult's point of...
. From the very beginning he attempted to develop a comprehensive theory of cognitive development aiming to integrate the empirically valid aspects of Piaget
Piaget
Piaget is surname of:* Edouard Piaget , Swiss entomologist* Jean Piaget , Swiss developmental psychologist* Paul Piaget , a Swiss rower...
´s theory with psychometric and cognitive theory. That is, the theory aimed to describe and explain intellectual development through the life span, individual differences in the rate and directions of intellectual development, and the cognitive mechanisms underlying development and individual differences. According to this theory, the human mind is organized in three functional levels. The first is the level of processing potentials, which involves information processing
Information processing
Information processing is the change of information in any manner detectable by an observer. As such, it is a process which describes everything which happens in the universe, from the falling of a rock to the printing of a text file from a digital computer system...
mechanisms underlying the ability to attend to, select, represent, and operate on information. The other two of levels involve knowing processes, one oriented to the environment and another oriented to the self. The level oriented to the environment includes thought processes and functions that specialize in the representation and processing of information coming from different domains of the environment. Six domains are specified: Categorical, quantitative, causal, spatial, propositional, and social thought. The self-oriented level includes functions and processes oriented to monitoring, representing, and regulating processing potentials and the environment-oriented systems. It underlies executive control and planning
Planning
Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior...
and it generates self-perceptions that converge on a self-image that shape how we view and avail ourselves to problem solving
Problem solving
Problem solving is a mental process and is part of the larger problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Consideredthe most complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive process that requires the modulation and control of...
and social interactions. Recently, he studies the relations between intellectual development and personality development
Personality Development
An individual's personality is an aggregate conglomeration of decisions we've made throughout our lives . There are inherent natural, genetic, and environmental factors that contribute to the development of our personality. According to process of socialization, "personality also colors our values,...
and also the relations between intellectual development and brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
development. He is also working on the educational applications of his theory., This theory is presented in more than 150 books and articles, such as (1) The Architecture and Dynamics of Developing Mind, (2) The Development of Mental Processing , and (3) Unity and Modularity in the Mind and the Self. The journals New Ideas in Psychology Developmental Review, and Developmental Science devoted special issues in the discussion of aspects of his theory.
Present
As a Minister of Education and Culture from March, 2008 to August 2011 he led a large programme of reforms in CypriotCyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
education which includes the development of new curricula across all subjects and grades from preschool to senior high school and the expansion of the university system of the country. He also contributed to elevating Cypriot universities into regional centres of excellence and cooperation. Moreover, he reformed the system of cultural governance so that creators and people of culture are involved in the decision making mechanisms concerning arts and culture. Finally, he attempted to improve the efficiency of the Ministry through a series of changes in its administrative operation.
Appointments
- 1975-1996: He taught psychology from all ranks at the Department of Psychology and Education and then the School of Psychology, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki.
- 1992-1994: Chairman of the School of Psychology, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki.
- 1996-2008: Professor of Psychology, University of Cyprus.
- 1996-1998: Chairman of the Department of Educational Sciences, University of Cyprus.
- 1999-2002: Vice-Rector and Acting Rector of the University of Cyprus.
- 2003-2004: Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Cyprus.
- 2004-2006: Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Sciences of Education, University of Cyprus.
- 2004-2008: Founding President of the Interim Governing Board of the Cyprus University of Technology.
- 2006-2008: President of the Conference of Rectors of Cyprus Universities.
- 2008-2011: Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Cyprus.
- 2011- : President, University of Nicosia Research Foundation
Honors
- 2001 Distinguished Visiting Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Fribourg, Switzerland, November.
- 2004 Fellow of the International Academy of Education.
- 2009 Honorary Visiting Professor of the Northeastern Normal University, ChangchunChangchunChangchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...
, Jilin Province, China. - 2010 Doctor of the University Honoris Causa, Middlesex UniversityMiddlesex UniversityMiddlesex University is a university in north London, England. It is located in the historic county boundaries of Middlesex from which it takes its name. It is one of the post-1992 universities and is a member of Million+ working group...
, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom. - 2011 Honarary President of the Pancyprian Psychological Association.
- 2011 Initiative Founder Award, Awarded at the Eduvision 2020 Conference, 16 September 2011, Bucharest, Romania.
List of major works
- Demetriou, A. (Ed.), (1988). The neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive developmentNeo-Piagetian theories of cognitive developmentJean Piaget's theory of cognitive development has been criticized on many grounds. One criticism is concerned with the very nature of development itself. It is suggested that Piaget's theory does not explain why development from stage to stage occurs. The theory is also criticized for ignoring...
: Toward an integration. Amsterdam: North-Holland. - Demetriou, A., (2000). Organization and development of self-understanding and self-regulation: Toward a general theory. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 209–251). Academic Press.
- Demetriou, A., & Bakracevic, K. (2009). Cognitive development from adolescence to middle age: From environment-oriented reasoning to social understanding and self-awareness. Learning and Individual Differences, 19, 181-194.
- Demetriou, A., Christou, C., Spanoudis, G., & Platsidou, M. (2002). The development of mental processing: Efficiency, working memory, and thinking. Monographs of the Society of Research in Child Development, 67, Serial Number 268.
- Demetriou, A., Efklides, A., & Platsidou, M. (1993). The architecture and dynamics of developing mind: Experiential structuralism as a frame for unifying cognitive developmental theories. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 58 (5, Serial No. 234).
- Demetriou, A., & Kazi, S. (2001). Unity and modularity in the mind and the self: Studies on the relationships between self-awareness, personality, and intellectual development from childhood to adolescence. London: Routledge.
- Demetriou, A., & Kazi, S. (2006). Self-awareness in g (with processing efficiency and reasoning). Intelligence, 34, 297-317.
- Demetriou, A., Kazi, S., & Georgiou, S. (1999). The emerging self: The convergence of mind, self, and thinking styles. Developmental Science, 2:4, 387-409 (With commentaries by F. Marton, R. S. Sternberg, C. F. M. van Lieshout, E. C. Hair & W. G. Graziano, and J. Asendorpf).
- Demetriou, A., Kyriakides, L., & Avraamidou, C. (2003). The Missing link in the relations between intelligence and personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 37, 547-581.
- Demetriou, A., & Kyriakides, L., (2006). The functional and developmental organization of cognitive developmental sequences. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 209-242.
- Demetriou, A., Mouyi, A., & Spanoudis, G. (2008). Modeling the structure and development of g. Intelligence, 36, 437-454.
- Demetriou, A., Mouyi, A., & Spanoudis, G. (2010). The development of mental processing. Nesselroade, J. R. (2010). Methods in the study of life-span human development: Issues and answers. In W. F. Overton (Ed.), Biology, cognition and methods across the life-span. Volume 1 of the Handbook of life-span development (pp. 306–343), Editor-in-chief: R. M. Lerner. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
- Demetriou A., & Raftopoulos, A. (1999). Modeling the developing mind: From structure to change. Developmental Review, 19, 319-368 (published with peer commentary by Mark Bickhard).
- Demetriou, A., Spanoudis, G., & Mouyi, A. (2011). Educating the developing mind: Towards an overarching paradigm. Educational Psychology Review, DOI 10.1007/s10648-011-9178-3.
- Kargopoulos, P., & Demetriou, A. (1998). Logical and psychological partitioning of mind: Depicting the same picture? New Ideas in Psychology, 16, 61-88 (with commentaries by J. Pascual-Leone, M. Bickhard, P. Engel, and L. Smith).