Hierarchical Complexity of Tasks Shows the Existence of Developmental Stages

A Stage Is a Stage Is a Stage: A Direct Comparison of Two Scoring Systems

“…Case, Griffin, McKeough, and Okamoto (1992) and Fischer and Bidell (1998) have used general stage definitions extensively to scale performances across domains, but neither has disseminated a generalized scoring system. On the basis of Commons's general stage model (Commons et al, 1984;Commons et al, 1998) and Fischer's (1980) skill theory, along with elaborated conceptions of hierarchical order of abstraction (explained in detail later) and layers of structure (Dawson, 2001), the Hierarchical Complexity Scoring System (Dawson, 2002a) describes explicit general criteria for determining the developmental level of performance in any domain of knowledge.…”

“…This notion is central to several other developmental theories as well, including those of Case (1985), Fischer (1980), and Werner (1948) and is the basis for a number of developmental scales, such as the levels and tiers of Fischer's skill theory and the stages of Commons' general stage model (Commons, Richards, with Ruf, Armstrong-Roche, & Bretzius, 1984;Commons, Trudeau, Stein, Richards, & Krause, 1998).…”

Em torno do pensamento pós-formal

“…Nas palavras dos autores «o estádio seria a classe mais elevada de complexidade hierárquica em que a tarefa é realizada com sucesso» (p. 238). Tal noção de estádio não pressupõe, na opinião de Commons et al (1998), a emergência abrupta da nova realização e o desaparecimento da realização anterior; pressupõe sim, a organização e transformação das acções do nível anterior, sendo essas organizações caracterizadas por serem novas (no sentido em que não podem ser realizadas em níveis inferiores de acções) e efectuadas de um modo não arbitrário. De acordo com estes autores, quando avaliados em tarefas de um domínio nocional específico, apresentadas segundo uma ordem hierárquica de complexidade (cf.…”

Assessing Intellectual Development: Three Approaches, One Sequence

“…The general developmental model employed here has been strongly influenced by Piaget's stage model, Fischer's (1980) skill theory, and Commons' General Stage Model (Commons, Richards, Ruf, Armstrong-Roche, & Bretzius, 1984;Commons, Trudeau, Stein, Richards, & Krause, 1998), which is also known as the Model of Hierarchical Complexity. The General Stage Model is a model of the hierarchical complexity of tasks.…”

“…It is based primarily on Commons' (Commons et al, 1998) General Stage Model, Fischer's skill theory (Fischer, 1980), and the newly elaborated notion of hierarchical order of abstraction, described briefly above and in greater detail by Dawson and Wilson (in press). Unique manifestations of hierarchical order of abstraction are evident at every complexity order in the form of new conceptual understandings.…”