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As interest grows in relating social and individual approaches to development, traditional antipathies between Piagetian and Vygotskian theories are giving way to an interest in understanding relationships between them. A dialectical approach, shared by both theories, is proposed as a framework for understanding these relations. The dialectical approach is first contrasted with Cartesian reductionism as a general scientific methodology and is then related to metatheory in developmental psychology. While the traditional Cartesian approach tends to isolate aspects of complex phenomena into static, decontextualized elements, the dialectical approach of the Vygotskian and Piagetian theories specifically focuses on the study of interrelationship and change. Understood within a dialectical framework, Piagetian and Vygotskian theories can supplement one another in framing developmental research in areas in which more traditional scientific methods have been unsuccessful. Two examples of such research applications demonstrate the utility of dialectically related concepts from Piagetian and Vygotskian theory.

Despite substantial research on racial attitudes and racial identity development among young white adults, little is known about the development of their conceptions about racism. The present study assessed a five-step, empirically based contextualist model of the development of conceptions about racism in young white adults, adapted from the research of Perry (1970), Kitchener and Fischer (1990), and others. A total of 55 young white adults participating in cultural diversity coursework responded to questionnaires about the nature and causes of racism and responses were classified according to the five-step model. Results indicated that many first-year white college students think about racism in dualistic terms, comparable to those described by Perry (1970) in some first-year students' epistemological concepts. Over a semester, many students showed transitions to higher steps, conceptually integrating more dimensions of the problem. Such developmental transitions may be highly context-specific. Implications for educational interventions are discussed.

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