Images mentales de transformations et opérations cognitives : une revue critique des études développementales

Abstract

Summary : Mental imagery of transformations and cognitive operations : a critical review of developmental studies. Developmental features of imaginal representations of kinetics and transformations are examined within the framework of piagetian theory and Information Processing. A critical overview of the basic assumptions, methodology and results of studies deriving from these two approaches suggests that their experimental paradigms may in fact elicit two distinct processing modes for transformational representation : an analogical mode, and a mode compatible with both propositional and piagetian models of representation. Discussion centers around the possible implications of this hypothesis for future research, in particular studies testing for interactions between these two processing modes over the course of development. Key words : mental imagery, cognitive development, analogical representation.