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Genetic Epistemology: Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development and Intelligence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 June 2010

Peter C. Dodwell
Affiliation:
Queen's University

Extract

Psychologists have for many years tried to grapple with the problems of dealing “scientifically” with the psychology of thinking. These attempts have met with little success, in the sense that no agreement has been reached on the definition of what thinking is and how it differs from other forms of behaviour, nor has any satisfactory explanation of thinking been produced. Indeed, one may well ask: what would constitute a satisfactory explanation of thinking ? This is a question which has not generally bothered psychologists particularly, although attempts at explanation suffer changes of fashion from time to time.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 1963

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References

1 Cf. Dodwell, P. C.Causes of Behaviour and Explanation in Psychology”. Mind, Vol. LXIX, N. S., 113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 Cf. D. W. Hamlyn's arguments on a related point in The Psychology of Perception.

3 Piaget: The Psychology of Intelligence (1952).

4 Piaget's early interest and work were in biology.

5 See especially Piaget's Logic and Psychology (1953) where this idea is presented in some detail.

6 In fact this is a serious misuse of language, since it involves a “category mistake” in Ryle's sense.

7 See, for example, the review of The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence by Parsons, C. A. in Brit. J. Psychol., Vol. 51, No. 1 (1960).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

8 See, for example, Dodwell, P. C.Children's Understanding of Number and Related Concepts,” Canad. J. Psychol., Vol. 14, No. 3 (1960).CrossRefGoogle Scholar