This book examines a key issue in current cognitive theories - the nature of representation. Each chapter is characterized by attempts to frame hot topics in cognitive development within the landscape of current developmental theorizing and the past legacy of genetic epistemology. The chapters address four questions that are fundamental to any developmental line of inquiry:

• How should we represent the workings and contents of the mind?
• How does the child construct mental models during the course of development?
• What are the origins of these models? and
• What accounts for the novelties that are the products and producers of developmental change?

These questions are situated in a historical context, Piagetian theory, and contemporary researchers attempt to trace how they draw upon, depart from, and transform the Piagetian legacy to revisit classic issues such as the child's awareness of the workings of mental life, the child's ability to represent the world, and the child's growing ability to process and learn from experience. The theoretical perspectives covered include constructivism, connectionism, theory-theory, information processing, dynamical systems, and social constructivist approaches. The research areas span imitation, mathematical reasoning, biological knowledge, language development, and theory of mind.

Written by major contributors to the field, this work will be of interest to students and researchers wanting a brief but in-depth overview of the contemporary field of cognitive development.

Planning is defined as formulating an organized method for action in advance. Although people do not plan all the time and planning does not occur in every situation, planning skill is central to all human behavior. There are developmental differences in planning skill and in the motivation to plan. Even among adults, variations in the engagement in the planning process are affected by individual attitudes, beliefs, and goals. Planning also has a different meaning at various junctures in one's life. Yet despite the amount of research on planning, many of the studies have focused only on the cognitive processes that enable mature individuals to plan.
A continued exploration of the developmental course of planning, this text attempts to situate cognitive aspects of planning in the context of the social and cultural environment and other psychological processes. Bringing together the contributions of developmental, organizational, and social psychologists, it explains how, when, and why we plan. Finally, it addresses various issues that pertain to the different aspects of planning, from formal problem solving to handling the demands of everyday life.

Planning is defined as formulating an organized method for action in advance. Although people do not plan all the time and planning does not occur in every situation, planning skill is central to all human behavior. There are developmental differences in planning skill and in the motivation to plan. Even among adults, variations in the engagement in the planning process are affected by individual attitudes, beliefs, and goals. Planning also has a different meaning at various junctures in one's life. Yet despite the amount of research on planning, many of the studies have focused only on the cognitive processes that enable mature individuals to plan. A continued exploration of the developmental course of planning, this text attempts to situate cognitive aspects of planning in the context of the social and cultural environment and other psychological processes. Bringing together the contributions of developmental, organizational, and social psychologists, it explains how, when, and why we plan. Finally, it addresses various issues that pertain to the different aspects of planning, from formal problem solving to handling the demands of everyday life.

This book examines a key issue in current cognitive theories - the nature of representation. Each chapter is characterized by attempts to frame hot topics in cognitive development within the landscape of current developmental theorizing and the past legacy of genetic epistemology. The chapters address four questions that are fundamental to any developmental line of inquiry: How should we represent the workings and contents of the mind? How does the child construct mental models during the course of development? What are the origins of these models? and What accounts for the novelties that are the products and producers of developmental change? These questions are situated in a historical context, Piagetian theory, and contemporary researchers attempt to trace how they draw upon, depart from, and transform the Piagetian legacy to revisit classic issues such as the child's awareness of the workings of mental life, the child's ability to represent the world, and the child's growing ability to process and learn from experience. The theoretical perspectives covered include constructivism, connectionism, theory-theory, information processing, dynamical systems, and social constructivist approaches. The research areas span imitation, mathematical reasoning, biological knowledge, language development, and theory of mind. Written by major contributors to the field, this work will be of interest to students and researchers wanting a brief but in-depth overview of the contemporary field of cognitive development.

Towards a Feminist Developmental Psychology integrates the exciting recent scholarship on feminist theories with issues and concepts of developmental psychology. This collection of original essays brings to women's studies cholars aspects of developmental psychology that raise raise interesting questions for feminist theories. The volume provides both a critique of developmental psychology and a framework for a broader, richer, and more complex account of development.

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This book integrates some of the most exciting recent scholarship on feminist theories and methods into developmental psychology.

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First published in 1983. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Planning is an important human ability that guides behaviour and thereby complements instinctual fixed action patterns. How do people learn to plan? How do they develop the various skills that are implied by planfulness? This volume explores these questions as well as the concept of planning and its relationships to the concepts of problem-solving and organizational skills. The editors of this volume have drawn upon an international cadre of scholars to discuss the issues of planning and planful behaviours from a broad range of perspectives. The volume offers a comprehensive review and critical analysis of research and theory on the development of planning ability. Cognitive and developmental psychologists, educational researchers, and students hitherto frustrated by the complexity of the thinking about planning and fragmentation of the literature will find Blueprints for Thinking an invaluable resource.

Planning is an important human ability that guides behaviour and thereby complements instinctual fixed action patterns. How do people learn to plan? How do they develop the various skills that are implied by planfulness? This volume explores these questions as well as the concept of planning and its relationships to the concepts of problem-solving and organizational skills. The editors of this volume have drawn upon an international cadre of scholars to discuss the issues of planning and planful behaviours from a broad range of perspectives. The volume offers a comprehensive review and critical analysis of research and theory on the development of planning ability. Cognitive and developmental psychologists, educational researchers, and students hitherto frustrated by the complexity of the thinking about planning and fragmentation of the literature will find Blueprints for Thinking an invaluable resource.