If you want to get ahead, get a theory

Abstract

Although Genevan research has provided a detailed analysis of cognitive structures, our knowledge of cognitive processes remains fragmentary. The focus is now not only on macro-development but also on changes occurring in children's spontaneous action sequences in micro-formation. A series of experiments designed to study goal-oriented behavior is in progress. This paper describes the action sequences of 67 subjects between 4;6 and 9;5 years in a block balancing task. It is not a study of children's understanding of a specific notion in physics, but an attempt to pave the way towards understanding the more general processes of cognitive behavior. The analysis focuses on the interplay between the child's action sequences and his implicit theories which the observer infers from the sequences rather than from his verbal comments. Emphasis is placed on the role of counterexamples and on shifts in attention from goal to means. The construction and overgeneralization of ‘theories-in-action’ appear to be dynamic and general processes which are not stage-linked. The results also suggest certain functional rather than structural analogies between the acquisition of physical knowledge and the acquisition of language.