Dialectical inferences in the ontogenesis of social representations

Abstract

This article deals with a possible collaboration between two disciplines: developmental psychology and the theory of Social Representations (SR). The latter takes the study of the ontogenesis of social representations as a central issue, even though the explanation of this process is still inadequate. The objective of this paper is to analyse the potential found in the category of dialectical inferences, as formulated by Piagetian psychology, to act as a tool in explaining the psychological dynamics implied in the ontogenesis of social representations. We first present dialectics in the sense of an inferential process in the individual’s construction of new meanings or concepts. Secondly, we analyse the research that has studied the ontogenetic processes of SR, interpreting its results by appealing to dialectical inferences. Lastly, we examine the theoretical meaning of the research on the ontogenesis of SR.