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Culture and the Individual
Genetic Epistemology
Genetic Epistemology
Jean Piaget
Genetically (developmentally) determined
Epistemology = ways of knowing
Piagets research on his own (Swiss) children
Four stages of cognitive development
He believed they were universal and genetically programmed.
Piaget’s Stages
Sensory Motor – relating sensory experiences to motor actions, object permanence
Preoperational – use of symbols to think and talk and to solve simple problems, pretending, storytelling, drawing
Concrete Operations – logical mental operations on concrete objects, conservation of volume
Formal Operations – think about and solve abstract problems in a logical manner
Piaget: General Criticisms
Piaget’s theory is no longer a basis of understanding child development because of weaknesses in the theory
• Genetic contributions have been found to be less important than environmental factors
• Children can sometimes solve problems earlier than Piaget’s projected stage.
• Piaget’s theory describes stages, but does not say how change from one stage/task to another happens.
• Children have many more skills and abilities than Piaget describes in any of his stages.
New theories have been developedEG. Theory theory = children have an innate ability to make guesses about the world and test them against information in their environment.
Cross Cultural Tests of PiagetConcrete Operations
When people use concrete operations, they do so in similar ways cross-culturallyLag times up to 5 or 6 years in some culturesSome cultures acquire skills earlier (Mexico – pottery)Some operations not performed at all if not culturally relevantConservation tasks will be affected by subsistence strategies:
Hunting and gathering – better at horizontality - slower at conservation
Agricultural – advanced in conservation because of storage and transportation of goodsEcological factors do not affect sequences, but do affect
rates of acquisition
Cross-Cultural Tests of Piaget
Formal OperationsPeople in all cultures need training to get to formal operationsAll people have the capacity for formal operationsSchooling is a crucial factor in acquiring formal operationsTraining is necessary but not sufficient
EG. High school and University studentsAustralia, Mayalasia, India and Chinese-MalayPretests, training, post tests showedPretests showed differences (performance)Post tests showed no differences (competence)