Dialectic Operations: The Final Period of Cognitive Development1

Abstract

Arguments for an extension of Piaget's theory of cognitive development have been derived from philosophical and historical consideration of modern natural sciences. Implicit contradictions» which characterize these sciences as well as common thought» can be systematically apprehended only through a dialectic reinterpretation. The dialectic basis of Piaget's theory is expressed in his assimilation-accommodation paradigm. But development is interpreted as a continuing alienation from this basis culminating in the noncontradictory thinking of formal operations. Although Piaget's interpretations capture a rich variety of performances during childhood they fail to represent adequately the thought and emotions of mature and creative persons. For an interpretation of adulthood and aging» a return to the dialectic basis is necessary. Such a reorganization can proceed from any of the four major levels of development.It introduces intra-and interindividual variations into Piaget's theory. Individuals may operate simultaneously or in short succession at different cognitive levels. The ceaseless striving toward formal operations becomes inappropriate and ineffective for the level of dialectic maturity. [Jordan, 1943, pp. 84-85]."The antagonism between such different interpretations could reach its distinctiveness only because both groups of scientists succeeded in eliminating from their experiments the participatory role of the subject. "It is impossible to deny that, so far, all acquisition of knowledge in physics has, in principle, aimed at the widest possible separation of processes in the outer nature and processes in the realm of human sensations [Planck, 1934, p. 45]." The importance of the subject was unadmittedly retained outside of the context of experimentation only, namely in the selective preference -2-for one theory or the other, and in the selective performance of particular series of experiments. By separating the subject from the object of these observations their theories became abstract.Modern scientists have realized that the activities of the observers are intimately connected with their scientific investigations. When dealing with subatomic particles t for example, it is in principle impossible to observe, with equal precision, both their location in space and their movement in time.Since each measurement exerts a causal effect upon the process observed, the investigator is prevented from separating these conditions from the measurements chosen. Both location and movement, Or mass and velocity, have to be studied in their mutual dependence and in their dependence upon the observations. This recognition implies nothing else but to admit that the object is influenced by the subject.The abstract status of classical natural sciences, for which the theory of mechanics represents a prototypical example, was achieved through a strict adherence to the postulate of identity and the rejection of explicit or implicit contradictions. 2 The laws of classical mechanics--as well as those of any of the other...