A Cross-Cultural Study of Classificatory Ability in Australia

Abstract

An assessment was made of the development of logical thinking of four samples of Australian children. Two of these were samples of full-blood Australian Aboriginal children, one sample living in an isolated, rural, mainly Aboriginal community, and the other sample living in much closer contact with Europeans and their technology. The two samples of European children were identified as high-and low-socioeconomic. The measure of logical thinking was a battery of classificatory tests based on tests developed by Inhelder and Piaget. Marked differences in performance were found between the two European and the two Aboriginal groups, especially on a test of multiple classification. A small sub-sample of very high-contact Aboriginals performed at least as well as white Australian children living in a similar environment. Environmental differences between the four populations sampled were considered to have been a major influence in the performance differences found.