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A developmental theory of implicit and explicit knowledge?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 1999

Diane Poulin-Dubois
Affiliation:
Centre for Research in Human Development, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H4B 1R6 {dpoulin; rakison}@vax2.concordia.ca
David H. Rakison
Affiliation:
Centre for Research in Human Development, Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H4B 1R6 {dpoulin; rakison}@vax2.concordia.ca

Abstract

Early childhood is characterized by many cognitive developmentalists as a period of considerable change with respect to representational format. Dienes & Perner present a potentially viable theory for the stages involved in the increasingly explicit representation of knowledge. However, in our view they fail to map their multi-level system of explicitness onto cognitive developmental changes that occur in the first years of life. Specifically, we question the theory's heuristic value when applied to the development of early mind reading and categorization. We conclude that the authors fail to present evidence that dispels the view that knowledge change in these areas is dichotomous.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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