Abstract

Criticism invariably consists in pointing out some contradiction; either a contradiction within the theory criticized, or a contradiction between the theory and another theory which we have reason to accept, or a contradiction between theory and certain facts.... Criti-cism is, in a very important sense, the main motive force of any intellectual development. Without contradictions, without criticism, there would be no rational motive for changing theories: there would be no intellectual pro-gress. (Popper, 1963, p. 316) The major premise of the target article was that a metatheory, from a cognitive perspective, needs to emerge in the field of learning dis-