D. Roth et al., Which way cognitive development? An evaluation of the Piagetian and the domain-specific research programs, THEOR PSYCH, 10(3), 2000, pp. 353-373
The article addresses the current status of Piaget's theory as a perspectiv
e on the nature of the human intellect and its development. As a framework
for discussion, we adopt Lakatos's methodology of research programs, which
has been used by several authors to debate the role of Piaget's and other p
erspectives on cognitive development. The position we advocate is that, in
recent years, research in cognitive development has undergone a profound ch
ange of perspective, in the course of which the basic ontological commitmen
ts of the Piagetian approach have been challenged and undermined. We argue
that Piaget's fundamental assumptions of overarching structures and the pro
cess of equilibration have been superseded by a new perspective represented
by a synthesis of domain-specific and domain-general processes, which has
become the dominant impetus in the field.