A Review of the Literature on Piaget's Methodolgical Approach
Yeung Suk Lee
Abstract
The purpose of this paper was to review critiques on methodological problems relating to Piaget`s researches in terms of its scientific nature. On the basis of review of literature. the following problems were pointed out: 1. Notwithstanding Piaget`s emphasis on the scientific requirement for verification, Piaget was against the deductive method typical of scientific verification. 2. Piaget`s theory was so vague that It couldn`t be falsified. 3. Piaget ignored criticism of his method, and this was viewed as unscientific in the eyes of most scientists. 4. Avoiding the antecedent-consequence sequence of scientific experimentation, Piaget took the descriptive rather than the explanative nature. 5. Piaget didn`t accept individual differences in cognitive style in his research paradigm. 6. Piaget`s experimental procedures looked very simple but they were too complex to understand what was happening. 7. Although Piaget`s major ideas treated the child as the active constructor of reality, the child`s experimental tasks were structured by experimenter. 8. Piaget`s clinical method depended heavily upon language although the procedures required manipulation of objects. 9. Piaget always justified his experiments in terms of protocols selected from all the responses obtained. However, these protocols may not be the most representative responses or behaviors showing the child`s cognitive structure.
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