Reconsidering the Role of Overcoming Perturbations in Cognitive Development: Constructivism and Consciousness

Abstract

Constructivist theory must choose between the hypothesis that felt perturbation drives cognitive development (the priority of felt perturbation) and the hypothesis that the particular process that eventually produces new cognitive structures first produces felt perturbation (the continuity of process). There is ambivalence in Piagetian theory regarding this choice. The prevalent account of constructivist theory adopts the priority of felt perturbation. However, on occasion Piaget has explicitly rejected it, simultaneously endorsing the continuity of process. First, I explicate and support this latter position, arguing that felt perturbation emerges after the construction of a new cognitive structure has already begun. Next, I discuss the broader significance of rejecting the priority of felt perturbation in terms of a distinction between two types of theory of effective change, labeled Lamarckian and Darwinian in analogy with familiar theories of evolutionary change. Rejecting the priority of felt perturbation allows the development of a Darwinian perspective. In turn, the Darwinian perspective offers advantages for elaborating the analogy Piaget proposed between consciousness and the relation of form and content.

Conceptualizing Mind and Consciousness: Using Constructivist Ideas to Transcend the Physical Bind

“…As discussed in previous work [Becker, 2004a], Piaget took this stance. Indeed, in his theory of equilibration, Piaget makes great effort to provide a detailed conceptualization of how this directed production might happen -but, of course the discussion is at a level of abstraction that does not provide any account of how the brain might achieve the task.…”

“…In a previous paper [Becker, 2004a], I have articulated the contrast between the view of the production of new conceptions advocated here and the view prevalent in the Piagetian literature in terms of the contrast between Darwinian and Lamarckian approaches to the production of novelty at the evolutionary level. The Piagetian view employs Lamarckian thinking in this sense: the mechanism of production of change is directed in such a way that the change inherently provides a better fit with the environment.…”

“…In previous work, I have argued that through the various elaborations and modifications of his account of the development of logical reasoning, Piaget held to the idea that schemes with new logical properties arise from the coordination of preexisting schemes with one another [Becker, 2004a]. Thus, very briefly, in the familiar stage theory formulation of Piagetian ideas, coordination of relatively isolated sensorimotor schemes accounts for the development of the first mental instruments, such as the object concept which allows an organism to mentally act on an object that is not concurrently accessible to sensorimotor action.…”

“…Each element retains its own identity, not being in itself different whether it is on its own or linked with others in a chain. At the heart of the constructivist approach to conception is the idea that we do better to consider that logical coherence derives not so much from a chain of independently existing elements, but more from an overarching unity, a cognitive entity in which various elements exist as a function of one another [Becker, 2004a;Piaget, 1975Piaget, /1985Piaget, , 1977Piaget, /2001Piaget & Garcia, 1983/1989]. To understand, or follow, a deductive argument, one needs such an overarching unity.…”

The child's conception of the world: A 20th-century classic of child psychology, Second Edition. Edited by Jean Piaget, Forward by Jacques Voneche. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, Lanham, MD, 2007. pp. 432. Price: £19.99, €31.48. ISBN 9780742559516

“…Regarding the latter, rereading Piaget on the clinical method revealed his emphasis on the role of communication and language in children's development, for Piaget stated that guiding children through open-ended questions enables children to come to consciously recognize their thoughts that they were previously not aware of having. As noted by Becker (Becker, 2004;Becker & Varelas, 2001), these ideas of Piaget expressed in his early work indicate potential similarities between his and Vygotsky's theories that deserve exploration in future work.…”