Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T01:39:24.734Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Cognitive Developmental and Educational Research: The Need for a Wholistic Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Helga A.H. Rowe*
Affiliation:
Australian Council For Educational Research
*
Principal Research Fellow, A.C.E.R., PO Box 210, Hawthorne, Victoria, 3122.
Get access

Extract

A marked impression gained when one reviews the developmental literature with a view to decidina what knowledge might be relevant to education is the large number of single issue and unconnected theories and the apparently frequent overturning of theories. At least every ten years we witness a major change in the basic theories guiding research and development in both developmental and educational psychology.

Witnessing this heavy turn-over from a sideline, one might be excused for feeling concerned that the fabric of psychological knowledge may not be able to withstand the hard wear and tear resulting from this continuous reworking and recycling, and that the psychological fabric will become more and more fragile. Some threadbare parts have become obvious already. For example, the terms cognitionand cognitive are of quite limited usefulness now because their meaning has been reduced to something internal, something that is not directly observable. Initially the concept of cognition had a general but clear meaning. Concepts such as schema, stage, behaviour, and action are beginning to suffer a similar fate.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aebli, H. (1990). Research and development in instructional psychology. In Mandi, M., de Corte, E., Bennett, N. & Friedrich, H.F. (Eds.), Learning and instruction. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Flammer, A. (1980). Toward a theory of question asking. (Research Bulletin No. 22). Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg/Ch.Google Scholar
Cronbach, L.J., & Snow, R.E. (1977). Aptitudes and instructional methods: A handbook for research on interactions. New York: Irvington.Google Scholar
Lohman, D.F. (1990). Human intelligence: An introduction to advances in theory and research. Review of Educational Research, 59, 333373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magnusson, D., & Allen, V.L. (Eds.) (1983). Human development: An interactional perspective. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Pervin, LA., & Lewis, M. (Eds.) (1978). Perspectives and interactional psychology. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, H.A.H. (1985). Problem solving and intelligence. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Rowe, H.A.H. (in pressa). Intelligence: Reconceptualisation and change. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, H.A.H. (in press b). Information processing during problem solving: Human and computational. In Mrchev, S.J. (Ed.), MNEMO 90. Sofia, Bulgaria.Google Scholar
Snow, R.E. (1989). Aptitude, instruction and individual development. International Journal of Educational Research, 13, 869882.CrossRefGoogle Scholar