ABSTRACT
Both Piaget and others have seen the process of change as central to the study of development. Developmentalists have addressed issues such as what causes change and whether change is quantitative or qualitative, but change has turned out to be quite difficult to conceptualize, observe, and quantify. In particular, in cross-sectional studies, we see the products of change, not the process. One promising approach is the focus on micro-genesis: moment-by-moment change during a short time, usually changes throughout an experimental session for a number of sessions over weeks or months. Vygotsky (1978) and Werner (1948) described this approach years ago, but recently several researchers (e.g., Bjorklund, Coyle, & Gaultney, 1992; Kuhn, Garcia-Mila, Zohar, & Andersen, 1995; Kuhn & Phelps, 1982; Siegler, 1996; Siegler & Crowley, 1991) have revitalized the micro-genetic approach and stimulated its widespread use by showing that it reveals interesting phenomena about children’s thinking.
