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Plenary Panel 1:
(Ormandy West, Thursday 4:30 - 6:30)
Models of Conceptual Development
Chair: Susan A. Gelman, University of Michigan
Piaget was the quintessential organismic theorist. Analysis of his theory makes clear that hypotheses about the nature and structure of conceptual life constrain explanations of the origins of development and the mechanisms and course of conceptual change. Piaget's model was based on qualitative changes in general logical structures. Subsequent theorists placed cognitive development within the framework of computer programs, semantic networks, and domain specific-causal theories. Presently, there are a wide variety of theories differing in scope and format. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this eclecticism? What theoretical commitments underlie their choice of cognitive model, cognitive domain, and characterization of development? Piaget's theory launched a vibrant and continuing debate about the generality and nature of conceptual structures that will reverberate through discussions of the search for origins and sources of changes in development.
Panel:
- Robbie Case, University of Toronto (Framer)
- Frank C. Keil, Cornell University
- David Klahr, Carnegie Mellon University
Plenary Panel 2:
(Ormandy West, Friday 4:30 - 6:30)Origins of Conceptual Development
Chair: Katherine Nelson, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
The central issues to be addressed by this panel are both theoretical and empirical. Piaget's theory of the sensori-motor period is well-known, and many of his original observations have been replicated and have entered into norms of infant development. Yet much of the research on infants carried out over the past three decades, which has used modern technologies and methodologies that were not available to Piaget, has challenged his theoretical foundation. Empirical evidence for early conceptual knowledge about object permanence, number, categorical relations, and early emergent conceptual skills like imitation have challenged the original observations and Piaget's description of the emergence of representational thought. At the same time, new advances in developmental and evolutionary biology have suggested alternative models, some consistent with Piaget's thinking, and some in conflict with it. The panelists will discuss how well Piaget's model stands up to these challenges and what changes to or alternatives to might be viable. What does contemporary research on infant cognition and biology have to offer our understanding of the beginnings of intelligence and its development?
Panel:
- Rolando Garcia, Insitutos Polytecnico Nacional (Framer)
- Susan Oyamo, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
- Andrew N. Meltzoff, University of Washington
Plenary Panel 3:
(Ormandy West, Saturday 10:30 - 12:30)
Sources of Conceptual Development
Chair: Patricia Miller, University of Florida
Once the conceptual system begins to develop, from where does new knowledge come? Piaget identified a number of important sources of development, and later investigators articulated these sources and identified new ones. Examples of general sources are biological and environmental influences and self-reflection, and interaction. Some of the main issues are the following: What are the main sources of conceptual change? How do these influences interact to produce change? Does their relative contribution change during development? To what extent is conceptual development driven by intra-individual processes such as equilibrium, self-reflection, and bidirectional exchanges between developing systems such as language memory and logic? Does a given system affect macrodevelopment and microdevelopment in similar ways? Does work on the origins of models of conceptual change affect what sources we choose to study, and vice versa?
Panel:
- Jacques Vonéche, Archives Jean Piaget, Université de Genéve (Framer)
- Geofreey Saxe, University of California at Los Angeles
- Susan Carey, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Send comments to: Chris Lalonde (webmaster@piaget.org) Last update: 8 June 1997 |
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