Early Tests of Piagetian Theory Through World War II

Psychologists recognized the importance of Jean Piaget's theory from its inception. Within a year of the appearance of his first book translated into English, The Language and Thought of the Child (J. Piaget, 1926) , it had been reviewed and welcomed; shortly thereafter, psychologists began tes...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of genetic psychology 2016-11, Vol.177 (6), p.252-264
Main Author: Beins, Bernard C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Developmental psychology
history of psychology
History, 20th Century
Humans
Piaget
Piagetian Theory
Psychological Theory
Psychologists
Psychology, Developmental - history
replication
Resistance (Psychology)
Theory
War
World War II
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Psychologists recognized the importance of Jean Piaget's theory from its inception. Within a year of the appearance of his first book translated into English, The Language and Thought of the Child (J. Piaget, 1926) , it had been reviewed and welcomed; shortly thereafter, psychologists began testing the tenets of the theory empirically. The author traces the empirical testing of his theory in the 2 decades following publication of his initial book. A review of the published literature through the World War II era reveals that the research resulted in consistent failure to support the theoretical mechanisms that Piaget proposed. Nonetheless, the theory ultimately gained traction to become the bedrock of developmental psychology. Reasons for its persistence may include a possible lack of awareness by psychologists about the lack of empirical support, its breadth and complexity, and a lack of a viable alternate theory. As a result, the theory still exerts influence in psychology even though its dominance has diminished.
ISSN:0022-1325
1940-0896
DOI:10.1080/00221325.2016.1237236