With or Beyond Piaget? A Dialogue between New Probabilistic Models of Learning and the Theories of Jean Piaget

more than 10 years, we have seen the emergence of new ``probabilistic'' models of learning. They clearly echo Jean Piaget's works and theories but they also claim to go further. However, references to Piaget are often quick and rarely take the time to explore the rich heritage of the Genevan's works. This article takes a closer look at their links through a systematic review of the literature. To do so, I selected, read, and compared articles and books about the probabilistic models of learning and the works of Jean Piaget dealing with similar questions. I will first present the theoretical evolutions offered by the probabilistic models of learning. Then, I will reexamine the words and works of Jean Piaget to show how he had in fact formulated and addressed similar questions at his time, from his point of view. I will finally discuss how we could question, today, Jean Piaget's works in regard to these new models, but also how these new models could be discussed with regard to Piagetian works. (C) 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel