ABSTRACT
The book began with two approaches to conceptual knowledge, one of which it termed ‘theory-based’ and the other of which it termed ‘action-based’. From the theory-based perspective, children have an a priori sense of mechanism which governs the conceptual distinctions that they subsequently draw. Driven by their mechanistic focus, children seek to understand how mechanisms work, and as understanding grows so does conceptualisation. This applies to all conceptual knowledge including beliefs about the variables relevant to outcome. Thus, the theory-based perspective makes the strong prediction that beliefs about variables will be governed by mechanisms, and hence that the anticipated progress in the latter will feed through to the former. From the action-based perspective, children have an a priori sense of personal action which they gradually decentre during the first six years of life. The course of decentration guarantees an awareness of variables prior to mechanisms, even though the early variables will be egocentric in nature. Moreover, the acquisition of a sense of mechanism around the age of 6 does not necessarily bring variables under mechanistic control. On the contrary, there is a lengthy period where some variables at least lie beyond the scope of mechanisms.
