Leslie Smith – författare

Jean Piaget is one of the greatest names in psychology. A knowledge of his ideas is essential for all in psychology and education. Sociological Studies is one of his major works to remain untranslated. Now an international team of Piaget experts has got together to ensure that this important work is available in English.This classic text, exploring the role of social experience in the development of understanding, shows the general perception of Piaget as someone who took insufficient account of social factors in psychology to be false.

Critical Readings on Piaget is a follow-up to Piaget: Critical Assessments a collection of eighty-three papers dealing with the critique of Piaget's work in psychology, education and philosophy during the period 1950-90. This new collection tracks developments in the most recent published work during the period 1990-95, with an integral guide and editorial commentary by Leslie Smith. Starting with Piaget's epistemology, a major intellectual resource in departmental psychology and eduction, Leslie Smith sets out the main elements of Piaget's position in relation to twenty one papers, dealing with equilibration and equilibrium, education and social development, reasoning development, number development and modal knowledge. A conclusion examines the psychological and educational assessment of Piaget's epistemology. This collection of distinctive studies during the last five years provides high-profile and engaging examples from current research in this area. It will provide a useful and compact text for undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers.

Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are arguably the two most influential figures in psychological research. Although born in the same year of 1896, it is only over the last decade or so that the work of Vygotsky has rivalled that of Piaget in importance in the Western world. This collection of original contributions by leading researchers celebrates the 1996 centenary of the births of the two most seminal figures in education and developmental psychology - Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Research in their footsteps continues worldwide and is growing.What are the implications for the future for this extensive programme? Which of the large body of findings has proved most important to current research? Based around five themes, these original contributions cover educational intervention and teaching, social collaboration and learning, cognitive skills and domains, the measurement of development and the development of modal understanding.Piaget, Vygotsky and Beyond is a uniquely comprehensive collection, drawing together a wide range of themes in psychology and educational research that would otherwise be dispersed throughout a variety of different publications. It will be useful to advanced scholars and practitioner-researchers in both education and psychology.

Among the many conceits of modern thought is the idea that philosophy, tainted as it is by subjective evaluation, is a shaky guide for human affairs. People, it is argued, are better off if they base their conduct either on know-how with its pragmatic criterion of truth (i.e., possibility) or on science with its universal criterion of rational necessity.Since Helmholtz, there has been increasing concern in the life sciences about the role of reductionism in the construction of knowledge. Is psychophysics really possible? Are biological phenomena just the deducible results of chemical phenomena? And if life can be reduced to molecular mechanisms only, where do these miraculous molecules come from, and how do they work? On a psychological level, people wonder whether psychological phenomena result simply from genetically hardwired structures in the brain or whether, even if not genetically determined, they can be identified with the biochemical processes of that organ. In sociology, identical questions arise.If physical or chemical reduction is not practicable, should we think in terms of other forms of reduction, say, the reduction of psychological to sociological phenomena or in terms of what Piaget has called the "reduction of the lower to the higher" (e.g., teleology)? All in all, then, reductionism in both naive and sophisticated forms permeates all of human thought and may, at least in certain cases, be necessary to it. If so, what exactly are those cases?The papers collected in this volume are all derived from the 29th Annual Symposium of the Jean Piaget Society. The intent of the volume is to examine the issue of reductionism on the theoretical level in several sciences, including biology, psychology, and sociology. A complementary intent is to examine it from the point of view of the practical effects of reductionistic doctrine on daily life.

Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are arguably the two most influential figures in psychological research. Although born in the same year of 1896, it is only over the last decade or so that the work of Vygotsky has rivalled that of Piaget in importance in the Western world. This collection of original contributions by leading researchers celebrates the 1996 centenary of the births of the two most seminal figures in education and developmental psychology - Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Research in their footsteps continues worldwide and is growing.What are the implications for the future for this extensive programme? Which of the large body of findings has proved most important to current research? Based around five themes, these original contributions cover educational intervention and teaching, social collaboration and learning, cognitive skills and domains, the measurement of development and the development of modal understanding.Piaget, Vygotsky and Beyond is a uniquely comprehensive collection, drawing together a wide range of themes in psychology and educational research that would otherwise be dispersed throughout a variety of different publications. It will be useful to advanced scholars and practitioner-researchers in both education and psychology.

Jean Piaget is one of the greatest names in psychology. A knowledge of his ideas is essential for all in psychology and education. Sociological Studies is one of his major works to remain untranslated. Now an international team of Piaget experts has got together to ensure that this important work is available in English.This classic text, exploring the role of social experience in the development of understanding, shows the general perception of Piaget as someone who took insufficient account of social factors in psychology to be false.

The distinction between norms and facts is long-standing in providing a challenge for psychology. Norms exist as directives, commands, rules, customs and ideals, playing a constitutive role in human action and thought. Norms lay down 'what has to be' (the necessary, possible or impossible) and 'what has to be done' (the obligatory, the permitted or the forbidden) and so go beyond the 'is' of causality. During two millennia, norms made an essential contribution to accounts of the mind, yet the twentieth century witnessed an abrupt change in the science of psychology where norms were typically either excluded altogether or reduced to causes. The central argument in this book is twofold. Firstly, the approach in twentieth-century psychology is flawed. Secondly, norms operating interdependently with causes can be investigated empirically and theoretically in cognition, culture and morality. Human development is a norm-laden process.

Originally published in 1954, the purpose of this book was to provide a set of practical exercises for young engineers wishing to apply mathematical principles to problems confronting them in the workshop. The text was designed primarily for use in the Technical Secondary School, the County College, and the Works Training School. It will be of value to anyone with an interest in the development of engineering and educational practice.

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was listed among the 100 most important persons in the twentieth century by Time magazine, and his work - with its distinctive account of human development - has had a tremendous influence on a range of disciplines from philosophy to education, and notably in developmental psychology. The Cambridge Companion to Piaget provides a comprehensive introduction to different aspects of Piaget's work in a manner that does not eschew engagement with the complexities of subjects or debates yet is accessible to upper-level undergraduate students. Each chapter is a specially commissioned essay written by an expert on the subject matter. Thus, the book will also be of interest to academic psychologists, educational psychologists, and philosophers.

The distinction between norms and facts is long-standing in providing a challenge for psychology. Norms exist as directives, commands, rules, customs and ideals, playing a constitutive role in human action and thought. Norms lay down 'what has to be' (the necessary, possible or impossible) and 'what has to be done' (the obligatory, the permitted or the forbidden) and so go beyond the 'is' of causality. During two millennia, norms made an essential contribution to accounts of the mind, yet the twentieth century witnessed an abrupt change in the science of psychology where norms were typically either excluded altogether or reduced to causes. The central argument in this book is twofold. Firstly, the approach in twentieth-century psychology is flawed. Secondly, norms operating interdependently with causes can be investigated empirically and theoretically in cognition, culture and morality. Human development is a norm-laden process.

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was listed among the 100 most important persons in the twentieth century by Time magazine, and his work - with its distinctive account of human development - has had a tremendous influence on a range of disciplines from philosophy to education, and notably in developmental psychology. The Cambridge Companion to Piaget provides a comprehensive introduction to different aspects of Piaget's work in a manner that does not eschew engagement with the complexities of subjects or debates yet is accessible to upper-level undergraduate students. Each chapter is a specially commissioned essay written by an expert on the subject matter. Thus, the book will also be of interest to academic psychologists, educational psychologists, and philosophers.

Among the many conceits of modern thought is the idea that philosophy, tainted as it is by subjective evaluation, is a shaky guide for human affairs. People, it is argued, are better off if they base their conduct either on know-how with its pragmatic criterion of truth (i.e., possibility) or on science with its universal criterion of rational necessity.Since Helmholtz, there has been increasing concern in the life sciences about the role of reductionism in the construction of knowledge. Is psychophysics really possible? Are biological phenomena just the deducible results of chemical phenomena? And if life can be reduced to molecular mechanisms only, where do these miraculous molecules come from, and how do they work? On a psychological level, people wonder whether psychological phenomena result simply from genetically hardwired structures in the brain or whether, even if not genetically determined, they can be identified with the biochemical processes of that organ. In sociology, identical questions arise.If physical or chemical reduction is not practicable, should we think in terms of other forms of reduction, say, the reduction of psychological to sociological phenomena or in terms of what Piaget has called the "reduction of the lower to the higher" (e.g., teleology)? All in all, then, reductionism in both naive and sophisticated forms permeates all of human thought and may, at least in certain cases, be necessary to it. If so, what exactly are those cases?The papers collected in this volume are all derived from the 29th Annual Symposium of the Jean Piaget Society. The intent of the volume is to examine the issue of reductionism on the theoretical level in several sciences, including biology, psychology, and sociology. A complementary intent is to examine it from the point of view of the practical effects of reductionistic doctrine on daily life.

Critical Readings on Piaget is a follow-up to Piaget: Critical Assessments a collection of eighty-three papers dealing with the critique of Piaget's work in psychology, education and philosophy during the period 1950-90. This new collection tracks developments in the most recent published work during the period 1990-95, with an integral guide and editorial commentary by Leslie Smith. Starting with Piaget's epistemology, a major intellectual resource in departmental psychology and eduction, Leslie Smith sets out the main elements of Piaget's position in relation to twenty one papers, dealing with equilibration and equilibrium, education and social development, reasoning development, number development and modal knowledge. A conclusion examines the psychological and educational assessment of Piaget's epistemology. This collection of distinctive studies during the last five years provides high-profile and engaging examples from current research in this area. It will provide a useful and compact text for undergraduate and postgraduate students and researchers.

Originally published in 1993, this monograph addresses a central problem in Piaget’s work, which is the temporal construction of necessary knowledge. The main argument is that both normative and empirical issues are relevant to a minimally adequate account of the development of modal understanding. This central argument embodies three main claims. One claim is philosophical. Although the concepts of knowledge and necessity are problematic, there is sufficient agreement about their core elements due to the fundamental difference between truth-value and modality. Any account of human rationality has to respect this distinction. The second claim is that this normative distinction is not always respected in psychological research on the origins of knowledge where emphasis is placed on the procedures and methods used to gain good empirical evidence. An account of the initial acquisition of knowledge is not thereby an account of its legitimation in the human mind. The third claim relates to epistemology. Intellectual development is a process in which available knowledge is used in the construction of better knowledge. The monograph identifies features of a modal model of intellectual construction, whereby some form of necessary knowledge is always used. Intellectual development occurs as the reduction of modal errors through the differentiation and coordination of available forms of modal understanding. Piaget’s work continues to provide distinctive and intelligible answers to a substantive and outstanding problem.

Originally published in 1993, this monograph addresses a central problem in Piaget’s work, which is the temporal construction of necessary knowledge. The main argument is that both normative and empirical issues are relevant to a minimally adequate account of the development of modal understanding. This central argument embodies three main claims. One claim is philosophical. Although the concepts of knowledge and necessity are problematic, there is sufficient agreement about their core elements due to the fundamental difference between truth-value and modality. Any account of human rationality has to respect this distinction. The second claim is that this normative distinction is not always respected in psychological research on the origins of knowledge where emphasis is placed on the procedures and methods used to gain good empirical evidence. An account of the initial acquisition of knowledge is not thereby an account of its legitimation in the human mind. The third claim relates to epistemology. Intellectual development is a process in which available knowledge is used in the construction of better knowledge. The monograph identifies features of a modal model of intellectual construction, whereby some form of necessary knowledge is always used. Intellectual development occurs as the reduction of modal errors through the differentiation and coordination of available forms of modal understanding. Piaget’s work continues to provide distinctive and intelligible answers to a substantive and outstanding problem.

A study of the popular modern dramatists and the continuity of the farce tradition from Pinero to Travers, the Whitehall team and Orton which examines and questions some of the common assumptions about its nature. Farce techniques are shown to be increasingly used in serious drama.