Connectionist frameworks are interesting because they help us understand how our minds develop. However, they have some problems when trying to explain all the details of this development.

1. The Complex Nature of Development:

   • Cognitive development is complicated. It includes how our biology (our body and brain), our environment (our surroundings), and our social life (interactions with others) all work together.
   • Connectionist models mainly focus on learning from inputs and adjusting things based on that. They may not capture all these different influences well.

2. How Learning Works:

   • These models often use a method called backpropagation. This method has its limits and doesn’t always show how people grow and learn step by step, like the ideas proposed by Piaget.

3. Understanding Symbols:

   • Connectionist networks have a hard time with symbolic thinking and abstract reasoning. These are important parts of our thinking that grow as we mature.

4. Fixing the Issues:

   • To improve, researchers can mix connectionist ideas with symbolic reasoning. This can create a better understanding of how our minds work.
   • They can also look at how neural connections change over time to better simulate how we develop through different stages.

In the end, while connectionist frameworks give us a helpful starting point, we need to improve and combine them with other ideas about thinking. This way, we can better understand how cognitive development changes over time.