ABSTRACT
Success in specific actions of a causal nature generally pre cedes cognizance of them. The conceptualization on which the cognizance is based, which starts from the results of the act, is not only incomplete but often incorrect as well, be cause the child's preconceived ideas influence his reading of the situation-that is, he sees what he thinks he ought to see. By contrast, the coordinations that lead to correction of this conceptualized reading and to the child's being able to explain the situation originate in the general coordinations of the ac tion through a reflexive abstraction. The subject may not be conscious of the sources of this reflexive abstraction, but he is aware of the reflexive reorganizations engendered by this ab straction and these coordinations.
