Research in the psychology of mathematics education has been confronted with the fact that people blatantly fail to solve tasks they are supposed to be able to solve correctly given their available domain-specific knowledge and skills. Also researchers in cognitive psychology have encountered such phenomena. In this paper, theories that have been…

This paper argues that the metaphorical representation of concepts and the appropriation of language-based construals can be hypothesized as additional sources of conceptual change alongside those previously proposed. Analyses of construals implicit in the lay and scientific use of the noun "energy" from the perspective of the theory of conceptual…

Both Vygotsky, a psychologist, and Halliday, a social linguist, argue for the central role of language in human development. Language is the principal mode of meaning making; it mediates both the communication through which thinking with others is made possible and also the inner speech through which individual thinking is brought under conscious…

Wertsch's clarification of Vygotsky's claims about the role of social interaction in the development of children's thinking made an important contribution to educational research. Revisiting that clarification, I suggest that "talk" instead of "speech" best describes Vygotsky's concern with the functional dynamics of dialogue rather than the…

Explores contradictions arising from Piaget's transposition of the phylogenetic problem of the appearance of new forms to the ontogeny of knowledge. Discussion focuses on development as the organization of contents by preformed structures, on early development as a succession of representational organizations, and on concepts of structure and…

Discusses the logical discontinuity between object and personal knowledge. Proposes an extension of Piaget's subject-object equilibrium to a dialogic situation between an ego and an alter. Suggests that this structural model provides a scheme by which differences in adulthood between adaptive and maladaptive cognitive change can be clarified.…

Argues that Vico's constructivist epistemology is germane to contemporary cognitive developmental psychology, first in clarifying the meaning of the environment in Piaget's theory and second by providing, through the description of mental operations, a way of overcoming directions to the overly formal quality of Piaget's basic concrete-operational…

Reviews and discusses Piaget's recent work on abstract reasoning. Piaget's distinction between empirical and reflective abstraction is presented; his hypotheses are considered to be metaphorical. (Author/DB)

Argues for an interactionist model of the relation between cognition and motivation in early infancy. (Author/SS)

Piaget's emphasis on the invariant logic of growth and Vygotsky's emphasis on the centrality of culturally patterned dialog in enabling growth are possibly incommensurate. This incommensurability highlights two ways human beings make sense of the world, by means of logical necessity and of interpretive reconstruction of circumstances. (BC)

Focuses on Nelson et al's use of the term "theory of mind" and its meaning; alternatives to theory of mind; theories of theory of mind; arguments against theory of mind; and language and theory of mind. (KB)

Particular reference is made to change seen as either a discrete or a continuous process. This topic is discussed in relation to progress and modern trends in biology and physics. Additionally discussed is the development of children's understanding of the process of change in physical and biological phenomena. (Author/RH)

Discusses theoretical and practical questions regarding the development of pride and shame in children, which is claimed to be linked to both cognitive-developmental factors and socialization. Specific developments through childhood and adolescence in the conditions that produce pride and shame are proposed. (Author/RH)

Argues that the status of the concept of equilibration is classified by considering Piagetian theory as a research program in the sense elaborated in 1974 by Lakatos. A pilot study was made to examine the precision and testability of equilibration in Piaget's 1977 model.(Author/RH)

Describes three unique characteristics of adult thought: (1) an understanding of the relativistic nature of knowledge, (2) an acceptance of contradiction as a part of reality, and (3) an integrative approach to thinking. Analysis of the philosophical foundations of these characteristics is followed by critical examination of current studies of…