John Braswell2

Within its scope, Piaget’s theory has come to be accepted as highly accurate. Its scope, however, is now felt to be far less broad than Piaget originally thought. Gardner puts the argument well: “In my view, Piaget has painted a brilliant portrait of development in one domain--that of logical-mathematical thought--but has erroneously assumed that it pertains to other areas . . .”[12] Thus, the argument that is held against the proponents of the traditional conception of intelligence, that it is too limited in its considerations, is also held up against the theories of Piaget. Piaget’s theories do illuminate the development of logical reasoning, but those developments do not necessarily spill over into other areas of interest or intelligence.