From Piaget's Epistemic Subject to Pascual-Leone's Metasubject: Epistemic Transition in the Constructivist-Rationalist Theory of Cognitive Development
Titel:
From Piaget's Epistemic Subject to Pascual-Leone's Metasubject: Epistemic Transition in the Constructivist-Rationalist Theory of Cognitive Development
Auteur:
Niaz, Mansoor
Verschenen in:
International journal of psychology
Paginering:
Jaargang 27 (1992) nr. 6 pagina's 443-457
Jaar:
1992-12-01
Inhoud:
The explanation of the transition from one epistemic theory to another is an important part of Piaget's genetic epistemology. It is argued that this epistemic transition leads to a retrodictable orthogenetic tendency toward optimizing equilibration. The objective of this paper is to establish a relationship between Piaget's epistemic subject and Pascual-Leone's metasubject and to demonstrate that the postulation of the latter can be considered as an epistemic transition between two constructivist-rationalist theories, which leads to the development of a theory with greater explanatory power. Epistemic transition in this paper refers to a progressive problemshift (d. Lakatos, 1970), between the theories of Piaget and Pascual-hone. Piaget builds a “general model” by neglecting individual differences, that is, studies the epistemic subject, whereas Pascud-Leone by incorporating a framework for individual difference variables, studies the metasubject—the psychological organization of the epistemic subject. Empirical evidence is presented to demonstrate that Pascual-Leone's theory of constructive operators is a model of the psychological organism (the metasubject), which is at work inside Piaget's epistemic subject. Finally, it is concluded that the greater explanatory power of Pascual-Leone's theory can be interpreted as an epistemic transition between Piaget's epistemic subject and Pascual-Leone's metasubject. L'explication de la transition d'une theorie epistemique a une autre est une partie importante de l'epistemologie genetique de Piaget. On argumente que cette transition epistemique mene a une tendance orthogenique predictible de facon retroactive vers un equilibre optimise. L'objectif de cet article est d'etablir une relation entre le sujet epistemique de Piaget et le meta-sujet de Pascual-Leone, et de demontrer que la postulation de ce dernier peut etre consideree comme une transition epistemique entre dew theories constructivistes-rationalistes, ce qui amene au developpement d'une theorie possedant une meilleure puissance d'explication. La transition epistemique dans cet article se refere a un “problemshift” progressif (cf. Lakatos, 1970) entre les theories de Piaget et de Pascual-Leone. Piaget construit un “modele general” en negligeant les differences individuelles, c'est a dire qu'il etudie le sujet epistemique, alors que Pascual-Leone, en incorporant une cadre pour les variables de difference individuelle, etudie le meta-sujet—l'organistion psychologique du sujet epistemique. On presente des preuves empiriques pour demontrer que la theorie des operateurs constructifs de Pascual-Leone est un modele de l'organisme psychologique (le meta-sujet), qui est a l'oeuvre dans le sujet epistemique de Piaget. Finalement, on conclut que la meilleure puissance d'explication de la theorie de Pascual-Leone peut etre interpretee comme une transition epistemique entre le sujet epistemique de Piaget et le meta-sujet de Pascual-Leone.
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