Final answer:
Margaret Donaldson critiqued Jean Piaget's stage theory of cognitive development, arguing that children could reach cognitive milestones earlier than Piaget suggested, using evidence that infants have cognitive skills, such as understanding the properties of objects, earlier than the stages proposed by Piaget.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question involves Margaret Donaldson's arguments challenging the original theories proposed by Jean Piaget. Piaget's theory on cognitive development suggested that children develop cognitive abilities such as object permanence through distinct stages, influenced by their maturation and interaction with the environment. He posited that certain skills develop slowly over time as children engage with their surroundings.
Donaldson critiqued Piaget's theory by suggesting that cognitive development might not strictly adhere to the discrete stages as proposed by Piaget. She, and other researchers, have provided evidence that indicates children may reach cognitive milestones earlier than Piaget suggested. For instance, studies showed that very young children could understand the properties of objects without direct experience with them, contradicting Piaget's stage-based developmental timeline.