REFRAMING A CONSTRUCTIVIST MODEL OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MENTAL REPRESENTATION - THE ROLE OF HIGHER-ORDER OPERATIONS

The purpose of this article is to suggest a model for the development of mental representation. First, the fertility of empiricist and const ructivist models of mental representation is explored. It is concluded that the constructivist model provides a better ground for building a theory of mental representation. Next, Piaget's constructivist accoun t of the emergence of mental representation is presented and evaluated . Because Piaget's account proves insufficient in explaining the emerg ence of mental representation, the authors suggest a modification of P iaget's account. According to this proposal, higher-order operations a re necessary for the development of mental representation. This propos al serves as the basis for reinterpreting several findings of Piaget's studies on representational development. (C) 1998 Academic Press.