Examines two prominent positions in the epistemological foundations of psychology--Piaget's causal explanatory claims and Vygotsky's interpretive understanding; contends that they need to be placed in their wider philosophical contexts. Argues that the danger of causally explaining cultural practices through which human beings construct and…

Discussion of Piaget's three catagories of contradiction. (MS)

Discusses ontogeny and phylogeny in Piaget's work, differences between Piagetian (constructivist) and Darwinian (selectionist) approaches, and problems associated with transposing conceptual systems from one field to another. (RH)

Argues for unifying the conceptual frameworks of theories of evolution so that problems and their solutions in one theory may be transposed and explored in the others. The argument is used to reconsider the mutationist and Darwinian theories of evolution in the light of Piaget's nonstandard theory of evolution. (Author/RH)

Points out that while some symposium papers pursue a model of the individual mind, others explore the social mind. Argues that concepts of cognitive theory originally based on social existence have been deformed to emphasize the individual as a self-contained entity.(RH)

Analyzes the intentionality of conceptually mediated perception and explicates a conception of immediate perception and its intentionality. The model of immediate perception is applied to studies of infant perceptual capacities in the first months of life. Prefigurations of the categories of object, identity, existence, permanence, and…

Reviews papers presented at the Eighth West Virginia University Biennial Conference on Life-Span Development, which was intended to explore historical and generational (cohort) effects in life-span development.(Author/RH)

Argues for an interactionist model of the relation between cognition and motivation in early infancy. (Author/SS)

Piaget's emphasis on the invariant logic of growth and Vygotsky's emphasis on the centrality of culturally patterned dialog in enabling growth are possibly incommensurate. This incommensurability highlights two ways human beings make sense of the world, by means of logical necessity and of interpretive reconstruction of circumstances. (BC)

Focuses on Nelson et al's use of the term "theory of mind" and its meaning; alternatives to theory of mind; theories of theory of mind; arguments against theory of mind; and language and theory of mind. (KB)

Particular reference is made to change seen as either a discrete or a continuous process. This topic is discussed in relation to progress and modern trends in biology and physics. Additionally discussed is the development of children's understanding of the process of change in physical and biological phenomena. (Author/RH)

The relationship between learning, development and ability factors is considered. (ST)

The concepts of the active organism and the reactive organism are discussed in terms of their origin and consequences. (MS)

A dialectical approach to memories and memory abilities requires attention to relations of reciprocal causality both between the individual and society and within the individual. The challenge of the dialectical approach is to persist in insisting on change. (MS)

Replies to commentaries by Mandler (1988) and Rochat and Striano (1988), focusing on Mandler's comments. Maintains that their disagreements are the result of deep meta-theoretical differences regarding a representational theory of mind rather than misrepresentations of fact. Discusses how their meta-theoretical differences result in several basic…