Early childhood is characterized by many cognitive developmentalists as a p
eriod of considerable change with respect to representational format. Diene
s & Perner present a potentially viable theory for the stages involved in t
he increasingly explicit representation of knowledge. However, in our view
they fail to map their multi-level system of explicitness onto cognitive de
velopmental changes that occur in the first years of life. Specifically, we
question the theorv's heuristic Value when applied to the development of e
arly mind reading and categorization. We conclude that the authors fail to
present evidence that dispels the view that knowledge change in these areas
is dichotomous.