New Piaget Titles from Psychology Press
STUDIES IN REFLECTING ABSTRACTION
Jean Piaget
Edited and translated by
Robert L. Campbell
(Clemson University, USA)
This translation of the French Recherches sur l'abstraction reflechissante
(1977), makes available in English Piaget's only treatise on reflecting
abstraction -- a process he came to attribute considerable importance
to in his later thinking and which he believed to be responsible for many
of the advances that take place in human development, especially our understanding
of mathematics.
Rich with empirical research on reflecting abstraction at work in the thinking of 4 to 12 year olds, the studies in this volume examine its role in many contexts of cognitive development such as: reasoning about mathematics; forming analogies; putting objects in order by size and comparing the resulting series; and navigating through a wire maze. His theoretical discussions explore the relationships between reflecting abstraction and other central processes in his later theory, such as generalization, becoming conscious, and equilibration, as well as the differentiation of possibilities and their integration into necessities. These discussions indicate which aspects of his later theorizing were settled and which require further thought and investigation.
Studies in Reflecting Abstraction will be of interest to developmental and cognitive psychologists, educationalists, philosophers and anyone who seeks to understand human knowledge and its development.
Contents:
- Robert L. Campbell, Introduction: Reflecting Abstraction in
Context
- Part 1: The Abstraction of Logico-arithmetic Relations. Preface:
Logico-arithmetical or Algebraic Abstraction. Abstraction, Differentiation,
and Integration in the Use of Elementary Arithmetic Operations. The
Construction of Common Multiples. The Inversion of Arithmetic Operations.
Abstraction and Generalization during Transfers of Units. Problems of
Class Inclusion and Logical Implication. The Formation of Analogies.
From Concrete Forms of the Klein Group to the INRC Group.
- Part 2: The Abstraction of Order. Additive and Exponential
Series. Conditions on Reading off Complex Additive Series. Ordering
Practical Activity. Changes in Ordering or Necessary Backtracking. Conclusions
of Part 2.
- Part 3: The Abstraction of Spatial Relationships. Relations
between the Surface Area and the Perimeter of Rectangles. The Movements
of a Suspended Projectile. Diagonals. The Displacement of a Reference
Point in a System of Cyclic Movements. Abstraction from Displacements
and from their Coordinations. Rotations and Translations. The Rotation
of a Bar around a Pivot during the Sensorimotor Period. Conclusions
of Part 3.
- General Conclusions: I. Projection. II. The Creation of Novelties Specific to Reflecting Abstraction. III. Equilibration, the Source of Novelties, and Relationships between the Intensions and Extensions of Structures. IV. Empirical and Reflecting Abstraction.
ISBN 1-84169-157-7 December 2000 336pp.
See also: A review of this book by Les Smith
WORKING WITH PIAGET
Essays in Honour of Bärbel Inhelder
Edited and translated by
Anastasia Tryphon, Jacques Vonèche
(Jean Piaget Archives, Geneva, Switzerland)
For fifty years Bärbel Inhelder (1913 - 1997) was the research companion of Jean Piaget. In this unique volume, published in her honour, leading international researchers examine the various aspects of her work and ideas and her contribution to developmental psychology.
Following an initial chapter establishing Inhelder's stature as an independent researcher in her own right, the various research topics that she explored are reviewed and discussed with specific reference to her own perspective and in the chronological order in which she approached them. While the book explores Inhelder's work with her more famous colleague, it also highlights areas of research in which her ideas were at variance with those of Piaget, such as mental imagery, and areas in which her innovations have not been fully recognised, such as her discovery of the formal operations stage - an event usually attributed to Piaget - and her introduction of longitudinal studies in the field of cognitive development. Her research, viewpoint and contribution in other fields such as mental retardation, learning, and cross-cultural issues in development are also discussed. The final chapter, written by Inhelder herself, deals with experimental reasoning in children and adolescents, and provides a glimpse of her creativity.
Working with Piaget will be of great interest to developmental, social, and educational psychologists.
Contents:
- J. Vonèche, Bärbel Inhelder's Contributions to Psychology.
- J.-L. Paour, From Structural Diagnosis to Functional Diagnosis of Reasoning: A Dynamic Conception of Mental Retardation.
- M. Chandler, Perspective Taking in the Aftermath of Theory - Theory and the Collapse of the Social Role-Taking Literature.
- T. Bond, Building a Theory of Formal Operational Thinking: Inhelder's Psychology Meets Piaget's Epistemology.
- W. Edelstein, E. Schroder, The Impact of Social Structure on Development: An Analysis of Individual Differences in Cognition.
- E. Schroder, W. Edelstein, The Impact of Developmental Change and Social Constraints on Cognition: The Example of Syllogistic Reasoning.
- J. Vonèche, Mental Imagery: From Inhelder's Ideas to Neuro-cognitive Models.
- P. Bryant, Learning in Geneva: The Contribution by Bärbel Inhelder and her Colleagues.
- E. von Glasersfeld, Scheme Theory as a Key to the Learning Paradox.
- P. Greenfield, Culture and Universals: A Tribute to Bärbel Inhelder.
- T. Brown, Bärbel Inhelder and the Fall of Valhalla.
- B. Inhelder, The Experimental Approaches of Children and Adolescents.
ISBN 0-86377-621-3 December 2000 240pp.
Order from: Psychology Press (www.psypress.com)
