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 developed EG. 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 Piaget Concrete Operations When people use concrete operations, they do so in similar ways cross-culturally Lag times up to 5 or 6 years in some cultures Some cultures acquire skills earlier (Mexico – pottery) Some operations not performed at all if not culturally relevant Conservation 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 goods Ecological factors do not affect sequences, but do affect rates of acquisition

Cross-Cultural Tests of Piaget Formal Operations People in all cultures need training to get to formal operations All people have the capacity for formal operations Schooling is a crucial factor in acquiring formal operations Training is necessary but not sufficient EG. High school and University students Australia, Mayalasia, India and Chinese-Malay Pretests, training, post tests showed Pretests showed differences (performance) Post tests showed no differences (competence)