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Dans les années soixante coexistaient deux courants de recherche sur l’intelligence, sans ­rapport entre eux. D’une part, une approche factorielle, fondée sur l’analyse des ­différences entre les individus ; d’autre part, une approche structuraliste, celle de Piaget, fondée au contraire sur l’analyse de ce qui est commun à tous les individus dans le processus de ­développement cognitif. La thèse défendue ici est que les idées directrices sur lesquelles Reuchlin s’est appuyé pour faire évoluer la psychologie différentielle ont pris forme dans sa tentative, au début des années soixante, d’intégrer ces deux approches – l’une ­générale et l’autre différentielle – dans une même démarche de recherche fondamentale. Les ­circonstances dans lesquelles ces idées directrices ont pris forme sont d’abord évoquées, et les recherches qui s’en sont inspirées sont ensuite passées en revue, avant d’en faire le bilan. In the 1960s, two lines of research on intelligence coexisted which were entirely ­unconnected. On one hand there was a factorial approach based on an analysis of the ­differences between individuals; on the other there was the structuralist approach adopted by Piaget, based instead on an analysis of what is common to all individuals in the process of cognitive development. The thesis advocated here is that the guiding ideas put forward by Reuchlin to advance differential psychology took shape in his attempt, in the early 1960s, to integrate these two approaches - general and differential - in the same fundamental research. The circumstances in which these guiding ideas were shaped are firstly outlined, and the studies they inspired are then reviewed and discussed.

Some cognitive functions, shared by humans and certain animals, were acquired early in the course of phylogeny and, in humans, are operational in their primitive form shortly after birth. This is the case for the quantification of discrete objects. The further phylogenetic evolution of the human brain allows such functions to be reconstructed in a much more sophisticated way during child development. Certain functional characteristics of the brain (plasticity, multiple cognitive processes involved in the same response, interactions and substitution relationships between those processes) provide degrees of freedom that open up the possibility of different pathways of reconstruction. The within- and between-individual variability of these developmental pathways offers an original window on the dynamics of development. Here, I will illustrate this theoretical approach to cognitive development—which can be called “reconstructivist” and “pluralistic”—using children's construction of number as an example.

EnglishThe pluralistic approach seeks to integrate within the same theoretical framework the explanation of both cognitive development and differentiation. It relies on the fact that a given function can usually be performed by a plurality of processes dealing with different kinds of information. This form of redundancy is assumed to be at the origin of two kinds of relationships between such co-functional processes. On the one hand, relationships of mutual support, which are source of self-organization and thus of development. On the other hand, relationships of vicariance or substitution, which allow differences of pathway in the course of this developmental process. These assumptions are tested by examining available data on number construction in children. francaisL'approche pluraliste cherche a integrer dans un meme cadre theorique l'explication du developpement cognitif et celle de la differenciation entre les individus. Elle s'appuie pour cela sur le fait qu'une meme fonction cognitive peut en general etre remplie par plusieurs processus, qui traitent des informations differentes. Cette forme de redondance est supposee etre a l'origine de deux sortes de relations entre ces processus co-fonctionnels. D'une part des relations de support mutuel, qui sont source d'auto-organisation et donc de developpement. D'autre part des relations de vicariance qui sont source de differences de cheminement dans ce developpement. Ces hypotheses sont mises a l'epreuve des faits en examinant les donnees disponibles sur la construction du nombre.

Resume Le centenaire de la premiere version de l’echelle metrique d’Alfred Binet et de Theodore Simon (1905), qui a ete le premier veritable test d’intelligence, a ete celebre lors d’un congres international qui s’est tenu a Paris, en octobre 2005, sur le theme de l’intelligence de l’enfant. Ce congres a ete l’occasion de prendre la mesure de l’evolution des idees sur l’intelligence depuis Binet et l’objet du present article est d’en proposer une synthese. Celle-ci s’articule autour de quelques evolutions majeures qui ont conduit, notamment, de la notion de processus superieurs a celle de processus executifs, de modeles statiques a des modeles dynamiques de l’intelligence, de la fixite a la plasticite du systeme cognitif, de la cognition froide a la cognition chaude, de modeles unidimensionnels a des modeles multidimensionnels, et enfin, d’une approche tres empirique de la construction des tests d’intelligence a une demarche articulant mieux cette construction avec la recherche fondamentale en psychologie cognitive.

The aim of this study was to shed some light on the organization of naive knowledge, and on the process of conceptual change in everyday physics, more specifically regarding the concepts of sound and heat. Eighty-three 8-year-old children were interviewed individually in order to see if they attributed the properties of objects (such as substantiality, weight, permanence, and trajectory) or the properties of physical processes (such as transmission by adjacency) to sound and heat. The results indicated that material properties were attributed to these concepts in a hierarchical way. Permanence was abandoned first, then weight, and finally substantiality. The properties of matter were attributed somewhat more for heat than for sound. For substantiality, five different mental models constrained by different naive theories were inferred from the children’s arguments. Naive knowledge about sound and heat thus appears to be organized in a relatively coherent way and conceptual change from one naive theory to the next seems to be slow and gradual.

The organization of physics knowledge (degree of coherence and nature of conceptual change) was studied in 89 6–10-year-old children using the concept of sound. We attempted to determine whether children apply properties of objects to sound or if they consider sounds as a vibratory process. Three properties of physical objects were studied: substantiality, weight, and permanence. The younger children considered sound more like an object than the older children did. Substantiality was attributed to sound more often than were weight and permanence. Based on the substantiality data, four mental models were identified (sound cannot pass through other objects unless there are holes, sound can pass through solids if it is harder than they are, sound is immaterial, sound is a vibratory process). We concluded that conceptual change in knowledge about sound does not happen through the sudden transfer of the concept from the ontological category of matter to the ontological category of processes, but rather through a slow and gradual process of belief revision, in the course of which the various properties of matter are abandoned in a hierarchical order.

In the present study, it was proposed to investigate the effects of aging on the strategies used to solve a block design task and to establish whether these strategies may be associated with differential patterns of ability. Two groups of subjects, 30 young adults (aged 20–35 years) and 30 middle-aged adults (aged 45–60 years) were set a computer version of the Kohs task and a battery of tests. An age-related decrease in fluid intelligence (Gf) and visual-spatial ability (Gv) was observed, along with the fact that most of the older subjects used a global strategy rather than a synthetic one. On the other hand, while continuing to use strategies of the analytic type, the older subjects looked more frequently at the model and scored high on crystallized intelligence (Gc). These findings are discussed from two different points of view: the theory of hierarchical stimuli and the hypothesis that metacognitive ability, which is thought to rely on Gc, may increase with age, and thus compensate for the loss of Gf and Gv.

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Lautrey Jacques. 3.6. Les objets sociaux sont-ils des objets de connaissance comme les autres ?. In: Intellectica. Revue de l'Association pour la Recherche Cognitive, n°33, 2001/2. Piaget et les sciences cognitives, sous la direction de Jacques Montangero. pp. 197-204.

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The widely accepted standpoint that implicit memory emerges earlier in development than explicit memory, and is more stable from childhood to adult age, is based on experimental data essentially collected in perceptual tasks. The present study was aimed at investigating whether these findings still hold when a more conceptual task is used. We compared the performance of children at two age levels (2nd and 4th grades) on a category-exemplar generation task. Results showed that performances of the two groups were comparable when the target items were typical of their categories, as in Experiment 2, and for a subset of the items in Experiment 1. However, the older children outperformed the younger children in Experiment 1 when the items selected were atypical of their categories. Interpretations of these findings are discussed.

This study evaluates the effects of a method of cognitive education, the Feuerstein' s Instrumental Enrichment Program (iep), on young adults undergoing pre-training sessions. The data presented here relates not only to the direct effects of the IEP on cognitive and personality tests, but also to the transfer of that learning to different situations. The results show that the introduction of the program into pre- training sessions caused some positive effects but they were limited to situations which were close to those in which the training was conducted., Les effets d'une méthode d'éducation cognitive, le Programme d'Enrichissement Instrumental (pei) mis au point par Feuerstein et coll., ont été évalués sur une population de jeunes adultes en stages de préformation à I'afpa. Les données présentées ici concernent d'une part les effets directs de la méthode sur les performances des sujets dans certains tests (d'intelligence et de personnalité), et d'autre part le transfert de ces acquisitions à des situations autres que les tests. Les résultats montrent que l'introduction de la méthode dans les stages préqualifiants a eu certains effets, mais que ceux-ci restent limités aux situations proches de celles dans lesquelles les entraînements ont été réalisés., Le Loarer E., Lautrey Jacques, Huteau Michel, Chartier Daniel. Effet d'une méthode de remédiation cognitive (le Programme d'Enrichissement instrumental de Feuerstein) sur une population d'adultes faiblement qualifiés. In: Enfance, n°2, 1995. Aspects actuels de recherches sur la Psychologie du Développement. pp. 263-271.

The development of capacities for mental imagery has been dealt with in both Piagetian theory and in theories of information processing (IP). The aim of the present paper is to examine the assumptions, methodology, and main findings in these two approaches, with specific focus on the development of the capacity for mental images of transformation in the child. The first part of this paper reviews the main issues in Piagetian and IP studies. Comparison shows that each field has identified a specific mode of representation. It is argued that relating these two modes of representation may be a powerful tool in conceptualizing the development of spatial operations.

This study was designed to examine the cognitive processes involved in perceptual judgments of area with the methodology and concepts of Anderson's (1981) information integration theory. The Area = Height + Width rule, which Anderson and Cuneo (1978) showed to be operant in children's judgments, can in fact cover two different processes. Children may make a height judgment and then a length judgment and apply an additive integration operation to both. Alternatively, children may base themselves on the figure outline and estimate total length directly as a function of the distance scanned. Similarly, the multiplicatory integration pattern can result either from applying a multiplicatory operation to separate estimates or from visual exploration of the area bounded by the figure. In the present experiment, the characteristics of the areas of the test figures were modified (perimeter marking, rows of Xs covering the area, etc.) to elicit additive or multiplicatory integration patterns as a function of condition. The findings demonstrate that the second interpretation of both rules is more likely.

Lautrey Jacques. La variabilité intra-individuelle du niveau du développement opératoire et ses implications théoriques. In: Bulletin de psychologie, tome 33 n°345, 1980. Approches de l'adolescence /Les opérations cognitives et leur développement. pp. 685-697.

International audience; This study examines the relationships between perceptive judgment of quantity and conservation judgment of quantity with regard to the concept of area. Twenty children who passed an area conservation task (mean age = 8) and 20 children who failed it (mean age = 6.7) were administered an area judgment task. This task was a replication of Anderson and Cuneo's study (1978, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 107, 335–378). The conserving children generally appeared to apply an additive rule (the height and width rule) observed by Anderson and Cuneo in 5 year olds. The nonconserving children in contrast generally presented patterns suggesting centration on one of the two dimensions. The implications for Anderson's and Piaget's conceptions of conservation development are discussed.

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., Résumé Le développement des capacités de représentation imagée des mouvements et des transformations a été étudié dans le cadre de la théorie de Piaget et dans le cadre du paradigme du traitement de l'information. Les deux ensembles de recherches sont analysés en confrontant les conceptions théoriques dont ils s'inspirent, leurs méthodes, et leurs résultats. Ceci conduit à avancer l'hypothèse que ces deux paradigmes expérimentaux sollicitent en fait deux modes de traitement distincts dans la représentation des transformations, l'un analogique, Vautre compatible avec les modèles proposi-tionnalistes de la représentation et la théorie piagétienne. Les perspectives de recherche ouvertes par cette hypothèse sont ensuite discutées, notamment celles qui consisteraient à analyser les interactions entre ces deux modes de traitement au cours du développement. Mots clés : image mentale, dévelopment cognitif, représentation analogique., Lautrey Jacques, Chartier Daniel. Images mentales de transformations et opérations cognitives : une revue critique des études développementales. In: L'année psychologique. 1987 vol. 87, n°4. pp. 581-602.

Summary : Developmental and differential aspects of cognitive functioning. Seriation performances were observed among 120 children. Three factors were considered : 1) the child's age (front 6;5 to 10;0) ; 2) the type of experimental situation (classical seriation task and two revised seriation tasks called « Tunnel » and « Ecran-question », in which empirical cues are reduced) ; 3) the cognitive style (DIC). The analysis was conducted in regard to : 1 ) the use or not of a method (local acting opposed to methods (algorithmic or not)) ; 2) the type of method (extremum, voisin, insertion, permutation) ; 3) the type of procedure used for each method. The effect of age is mainly observed upon the passage from local acting to methods, and upon the increment of spontaneous verifications. The effect of cognitive style appears only in the Tunnel situation in which the use of a method is more observed among independent children. The specifie analysis of the procedures used for each method reveals, in the evolution of seriation performance, the role of : imagery representation taking in account the spatial properties of seriai order, memory and actions planification. Logical properties of seriai order don't seem to have a functional role for the resolution of seriation problems. Key words : seriation, procedure, spatial representation., Résumé Les conduites de sériation de 120 enfants ont été observées. Trois facteurs ont été considérés : 1) l'âge des enfants (de 6;5 à 10;0) ; 2) le type de situation expérimentale (sériation classique et deux situations où les indices perceptifs sont réduits) ; 3) le style cognitif (DIC). L'analyse des résultats a été conduite en fonction : 1) de l'utilisation ou non d'une méthode (algorithmique ou non) ; du type de méthode mis en œuvre (Extremum, Voisin, Insertion ou Permutation) ; 3) du type de procédure utilisé au sein de chaque méthode. L'effet de l'âge est observé principalement dans le passage des procédures frustes aux méthodes articulées. L'effet du style cognitif n'apparaît que dans la situation dite des « Tunnels », dans laquelle les enfants indépendants du champ perceptif utilisent davantage une méthode, quelle qu'elle soit, que les dépendants. L'analyse spécifique des procédures, utilisées au sein de chaque méthode, révèle le rôle des représentations des propriétés spatiales de l'ordre sériel dans l'évolution des conduites de sériation. Les propriétés logiques de l'ordre sériel ne semblent pas avoir d'utilité fonctionnelle dans la résolution des problèmes de sériation. Mots clés : sériation, procédure, représentation spatiale., Lautrey Jacques, Bideaud Jacqueline, Pierre-Puysegur Marie-Agnès. Aspects génétiques et différentiels du fonctionnement cognitif lors de tâches de sériation. In: L'année psychologique. 1986 vol. 86, n°4. pp. 489-526.

Piagetian theory presents cognitive development as a progressive construction of new structures—structures d’ensemble—each of which integrates the preceding one while going beyond it. Structures d’ensemble are not content-tied but proceed from general reorganizations that result in a certain synchronism of acquisitions at a given moment of development. The existence of such structures, and of their properties of differentiation and integration, confers a unidimensional trend to development: steps or stages are reached in the same invariant order by all subjects; only the rate at which they are reached can vary. This unidimensional model can be regarded as verified only if the construction of notions acquired during the course of development both is synchronous at each step and follows the same invariant order between the steps. However, the existence of synchronism raises problems.

Ce chapitre présente les connaissances naïves des élèves dans le domaine de la physique, c'est-à-dire les connaissances relatives au monde matériel, et leur rôle dans l'apprentissage de la physique à l'école. Les élèves étudiés, plus âgés que dans les chapitres précédents, sont au niveau de l'enseignement secondaire.

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Phonology