ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the principal criticisms regularly directed at Jean Piaget's theory by researchers who support social interactionism as inspired by Lev Vygotsky. It analyzes the counterproposals coming from the latter trend while drawing attention to the issues that they leave unresolved. The chapter discusses the aspects of Piagetian constructivism that we feel should be taken into consideration in order to complete and deepen the social inter-actionist theory of development. The majority of researchers with Vygotskyan leanings continue to acclaim Piaget's work, undoubtedly much more than cognitive psychologists do, and to acknowledge the utmost relevance of its contributions regarding the stages of purely cognitive development. The reputation of Piaget's work is due in part to the fact that his profound theories were invariably supported by an impressive corpus of empirical evidence compiled from reports on interactions. These interactions, whether relatively spontaneous or more controlled, were always of a potentially developmental nature.
