Encyclopedia of Science Education

2015 Edition
| Editors: Richard Gunstone

Piagetian Theory

Reference work entry
First Online:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2150-0_127
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Introduction

It is ironic that Jean Piaget is widely known as a child psychologist, yet he himself did not identify with this label. Rather, he used the term genetic epistemology to describe his work. In this context, genetic does not refer to genes but to the origin and development of knowledge. Usually, epistemologyrefers to the study of the nature, sources, scope, and validity of knowledge, and it is considered to be a branch of philosophy. Piaget, however, did not believe that epistemological issues fall under the sole jurisdiction of philosophy. Instead, Piaget argued that empirical methods can contribute to the solution of epistemological problems, particularly because knowledge itself is in constant flux and always remains incomplete. Thus, rather than an end in itself, the study of cognitive development in children was for Piaget only one means to address epistemological issues. This also explains why Piaget was not at all interested in determining the cognitive level of an...

Keywords

Child psychology Developmental stages Epistemology Equilibration process Piaget 
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References

  1. Chapman M (1988) Constructive evolution: origins and development of Piaget’s thought. Cambridge University Press, New YorkGoogle Scholar
  2. Müller U, Carpendale JIM, Smith L (eds) (2009) The Cambridge companion to Piaget. Cambridge University Press, New YorkGoogle Scholar
  3. Piaget J (1954) The construction of reality in the child. Basic Books, New YorkCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Piaget J (1963) The origins of intelligence in children. Norton, New YorkGoogle Scholar
  5. Piaget J (1970) Piaget’s theory. In: Mussen P (ed) Carmichael’s manual of child psychology, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York, pp 703–732Google Scholar
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  10. Smith L (1993) Necessary knowledge. Lawrence Erlbaum, HoveGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.University of VictoriaVictoriaCanada
  2. 2.University of CalgaryCalgaryCanada