Models of Cognitive Development. - book reviews

Adolescence,  Summer, 1999  

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RICHARDSON, Ken. United Kingdom: Psychology Press, 1998. 256pp. $59.95 (h), $29.95 (p).

Models of Cognitive Development aims to bring order to the highly fragmented field of cognitive development. It does this by arguing that the vast diversity of theories or models of what knowledge and reasoning are can be organized into groups according to a much smaller set of underlying assumptions or preconceptions, which themselves can be historically interrelated. By understanding these, students are helped to find their way more confidently around the area as a whole, to see the "wood" as well as the theoretical trees, and thus find themselves in a position to react to individual models more positively and more critically. Such criticism may, in turn, assist theoretical progress and unity in the future. The book covers all the contemporary theoretical and research strands in the area, with numerous examples. Chapters include: nativist models, associationist models, constructivist models, sociocognitive models, and models mixed and models new.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Libra Publishers, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group