It is argued that developmental psychology can profit by incorporating
ideas not only from other sciences but also from recent developments
in the philosophies of knowledge. A resulting learning process with po
ssible consequences for research practices is mediated by the self-ref
lective cognitive processes of developmental psychologists, To demonst
rate the conceptual and intellectual possibilities of metatheory, the
following three critical families are delineated and their potential f
or developmental psychology discussed: The German critical-theoretical
tradition (Habermas, Holzkamp); the postmodern critique of France (Ly
otard, Derrida, Foucault); and the multiple voices criticism of North
America (feminism, ethnic minorities), The significance of these appro
aches is elaborated in terms of problematizations and questions posed
to developmental psychology.