Semiotic-cognitive theory of learning

Abstract

On the basis of Vygotsky's definition of conceptualization (1995), this work links Piaget and García's stages of development through their triads (1984) to the semiotics introduced by Peirce (1974), who classifies signs in three categories which are associated with three inferences: abduction, induction, and deduction. As a result, the construction of knowledge begins with an abduction on the first stage, originating from a result which is presented (either deliberately or not, when teaching) as a problem for the subject and which destabilizes their Interpretive System. The relations arising from abductive generalization are established on the second stage as an interaction between form and content. By inductive or completive generalization, the form becomes deductive on the third stage. It is detached from all content, and is incorporated and linked to the rest of the forms of the Interpretive System. From the semiotic point of view, this implies the following progression: icon ? index ? symbol.