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…

The theory of conceptual fields is a developmental theory. It has two aims: (1) to describe and analyse the progressive complexity, on a long- and medium-term basis, of the mathematical competences that students develop inside and outside school, and (2) to establish better connections between the operational form of knowledge, which consists in…

Clarifies distinction between figurative and operative knowing and its relationship to symbolic functioning. Outlines how the concepts of symbol, language and signification fit within the Piagetian Theory of Knowing. (Author/NH)

The philosophies underlying the learning and structural theories used in psychology are described in this article. It is argued that a dialectical view provides some ways to breach the chasm between learning theory and the study of human development. (Author/DB)

Several different conceptions of the relationship between learning and development are considered in this article. It is argued that dialectical and ecological developmental orientations might provide a useful basis for synthesizing the contrasting frameworks of the operant, information processing, learning theory, and knowledge acquisition…

The developmental psychology of mathematical thinking and the clinical interview method can make major contributions to education by transforming the process of formative assessment--the attempt to use information concerning student performance, knowledge, learning potential, and motivation to inform instruction. The clinical interview is a…

The paradigm of theoretical behaviorism which rests on the premise of a passive organism is discussed. It is argued that the learning-theory movement promoted scientific understanding of the active organism which, in an ideological sense, it tended to deny. (MS)

In order to understand the advanced, scientific concepts of the various disciplines, students cannot rely on the simple memorization of facts. They must learn how to restructure their naive, intuitive theories based on everyday experience and lay culture. In other words, they must undergo profound conceptual change. This type of conceptual change…

Criticizes the operant approach to the study of life span development from a theoretical behaviorism view. It is argued that the operant approach is too limited in its scope to enhance significantly the conceptualization and understanding of life span development. (Author/DB)

The relationship between learning, development and ability factors is considered. (ST)

Presents an overview of Pascual-Leone's Theory of Constructive Operators and discusses its implications for issues in developmental psychology. The author concludes that the theory may resolve several anomalies in cognitive- developmental and learning theory approaches to development. One potential problem, the objectivity of task analysis, is…

It is through the selection of responses that are to serve as the organism's guests that many of the organism's characteristics and outcomes are determined. (MS)

Discusses the work of S. H. White, W. F. Overton and D. M. Baer. (MS)

Analyzes the relationship between the development of formal operations and the development of the adolescent personality, as hypothesized by Inhelder and Piaget. It is suggested that the concepts of possibility and reflectivity have a variety of meanings, and that once these meanings are examined, the logical foundation for the…