Piagetian Development Research Articles

Are Piagetian scales just intelligence tests?

Abstract Previous research has noted the relationships between Piagetian and Psychometric tests. The literature on this topic has revealed consistent and moderate-to-high magnitude associations and largely unidimensional tests. However, most of this literature has not explicitly assessed whether Psychometric general intelligence corresponds to a similar factor measurable with Piagetian tests. This study did just that by fitting structural equation models to available data from administrations of Piagetian and Psychometric tests given to the same samples. The tests were modeled separately, and then in models where they were featured together so their general factors could be correlated. The results of those analyses were then subjected to a meta-analysis ( K = 8, N = 862) and the meta-analytic relationship between Piagetian and Psychometric general factors was found to be exceptionally high ( r = 0.847). Piagetian scales thus test intelligence, and intelligence tests assess Piagetian development. • Piagetian tasks are supposed to provide estimates of a person's development through stages of cognitive development. • When they are factor-analyzed, they have a general factor as large as the general factor in typical Psychometric tests. • Research has not established whether the general factor from Piagetian tasks is the same as the one from Psychometric tests. • Using a series of joint confirmatory factor analyses, the relationship between their general factors was tested. • Piagetian and Psychometric general factors were too strongly associated to be practically differentiated ( r = 0.847).

Content Analysis of General Science Text Book for 8th Grade

General science textbooks due to integrated contents of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and; Earth and Space, need special attention of curriculum developers. The contents in general science textbooks can be evaluated through different methods and curriculum analysis taxonomy (CAT) is one of these. This research paper explores the contents of general science textbook of 8th grade taught in all government schools and in some private schools of Punjab province. The contents of textbook were broken down in term of Piagetian developmental levels by using Curriculum Analysis Taxonomy (CAT). The findings show that majority of contents of General science textbook were at Concrete Operational level while a small number of contents demands Formal Operational level. This uneven distribution of contents at different Piagetian developmental levels were also observed when contents of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and; Earth and Space were separately studied. It is recommended that the distribution of contents should follow model based on Piagetian development levels and the selection of contents should be on the basis of breadth and depth of the concepts.

An Open-Ended Approach to Piagetian Development of Adaptive Behavior

In this paper, we are interested in the open-ended development of adaptive behavior by infant humans in the context of embodied, enactive cognitive science. We focus on the sensorimotor development of an infant child from gestation to toddler and discuss what aspects of the body, brain, and environment could allow for the sort of leaps of complexity observed in the developing infant that has heretofore not been replicable by artificial means. We use the backdrops of Piagetian developmental principles and Sensorimotor Contingency Theory to discuss this process in terms of skill proficiency, and discuss biologically plausible means for achieving it by referring to predictive processing and the free energy principle. We also refer to the theory of affordances to examine the selection of appropriate behaviors in a complex environment, and investigate phenomenological accounts to discuss the intentionality inherent in the purposeful behaviors that develop. Throughout this paper we develop a functional account of infant development which is based on the aforementioned theories and which leads to a biologically realistic explanation for the theory laid out by Piaget consistent with the embodied and enactive views.

Constrained and Unconstrained Multivariate Normal Finite Mixture Modeling of Piagetian Data

We present the results of multivariate normal mixture modeling of Piagetian data. The sample consists of 101 children, who carried out a (pseudo-)conservation computer task on four occasions. We fitted both cross-sectional mixture models, and longitudinal models based on a Markovian transition model. Piagetian theory of cognitive development provides a strong basis for the number and interpretation of the components in the mixtures. Most studies of Piagetian development have been based on mixture modeling of discrete responses. The present results show that normal mixture modeling is a useful approach, when responses are continuous and approximately normal within the components. Multivariate normal mixture modeling has the advantage that the covariance structure within the components may be modeled. Generally the results are consistent with the presence of distinct modes of responding. This provides support for the hypothesis of stage-wise development.

Teaching science process skills

The effects of teaching science with a special emphasis on process skills were investigated with Year 7, 8 and 9 classes, in a study employing experimental and control groups. The 28‐week intervention proved to be particularly effective in promoting science process skills and in raising the Piagetian development level in Year 8 males. In delayed post‐tests nine or ten weeks after the intervention, the positive effects on cognitive ability were still present. The results are interpreted in terms of ‘readiness’, associated with a spurt in brain development.

Science Process Skills: their nature and interrelationships

Abstract Assessments were made of the science process skills and of the Piagetian development level of about 90 secondary school students in Tears 7, 8 and 9. The reliability, stability and validity of the measures were investigated. Only a simple two‐level hierarchy (basic and integrated) of process skills was found, with no evidence to support a theoretical multilevel model. Considerable overlap, perhaps even an identity, was found between science process skills and Piagetian development level.

Locating the Gospel of Mark A Model of Agrarian Biography

Markan geographical “mistakes” are routinely invoked to support the hypothesis that Mark did not live in the Holy Land. Nothing, however, is made of the fact that the writer, probably from a rural, peasant background, and surely with little command of the Greek language, has stocked his work with specific geographical references, many of which are placed correctly, and some of which are linked correctly in sequence. This article proposes that the so-called “mistakes” are the result of a paradigmatic difference between 20th-century western culture and that of the first-century Mediterranean. The “pre-operatory” (Piaget and Inhelder) concept of spacer characterized by topological (rather than Euclidean, projective) relationships, is both “systematic and lasting” in the developing child. Until cultural pressures demand the shift to “abstract” space, a child functions experientially with notions of proximity, separation, enclosure, etc., in a “plastic,” subjective world. Hallpike finds a similar reconstruction of space among many extant aboriginal peoples, and Sydney Blatt traces this Piagetian development in the history of art. The Rajum Hani‘ stone, found in Jordan and dating from the first centuries CE, suggests that a literate near-contemporary of Mark did indeed grasp space in “pre-operatory” fashion. A model for such a paradigm of geography is presented, which re-interprets Mark's geographical “mistakes,” and then shifts the emphasis to questions of boundary and territoriality (Sack). Two conclusions are drawn: (1) that Mark was probably Judean, and (2) that Mark understood Jesus' travels territorially—as the physical expression of Jesus' lordship over Mark's “world.”

A comparative study of ERP correlates of psychometric and Piagetian intelligence measures in normal and hyperactive children

Verbal and performance scores of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R 1981) and of a Piagetian battery, the Cognitive Development Scale for Children (EDC 1984), were obtained on 30 normal control and 19 hyperactive 6–8-year-old children. Amplitudes and latencies of a fronto-central P250 and of the parieto-occipital N250, P350 and P500 were measured concurrently in 4 categorization tasks derived from tests of the WISC-R and EDC batteries. Spearman correlations were computed between the intelligence and the ERP factor scores. Results showed that age-related and age-corrected Wechsler's scores were correlated with similar ERP changes (reduced amplitude, decreased latency). With regard to the amplitude changes, each type of intelligence was associated with a specific ERP pattern. The verbal scores were correlated with the P350 and the P500 amplitudes, and the performance scores with the frontal P250 and occipital N250 amplitudes. By contrast, Piagetian development and intelligence scores yielded ERP correlates in the opposite direction: P500 amplitude was negatively correlated with raw EDC scores, but positively with scaled EDC scores. In addition, Piagetian intelligence was not related to the general peak latency decrease with age. In hyperactive children, additional negative correlations were found between P250 amplitude and the subjects' verbal test scores. Correlations with some performance tests that were negative in normal controls, were positive in hyperactive children. In addition, latency-based correlations found in normal controls were lacking in hyperactive children. These findings provide strong evidence that intelligence comprises different components related to different subsets of cognitive processes, as indexed by different ERP waves. They also suggest that the development and intelligence do not always rely on the same changes, and that intelligence forms may not be referred to the same use of the same processes in hyperactive and normal children.

Accelerating the development of formal thinking in middle and high school students IV: Three years after a two‐year intervention

AbstractThree years after the end of a two‐year intervention program intended to promote formal operational thinking, the achievement of students initially 11 years of age was tested by their results in British National examinations, taken at age 16. Although the intervention was set within the context of science learning, the effects were found in science, mathematics, and English. In contrast to results reported earlier for the older cohort aged 12 years initially, where the boys showed greater achievement than girls in science and mathematics, here the effect was limited to girls. In comparison with control classes the effect sizes were science, 0.67σ mathematics, 0.72σ, and English, 0.69σ. Although half of the students showed increased achievement in science, which was consistent with the Piagetian model used in the intervention, the achievement of some in science, mathematics, and English was not associated with gains on Piagetian tests above those of control students. These results were attributed to aspects of the intervention methodology intended to enhance metacognition. The distinction between intervention and instruction was discussed in relation to normative data on Piagetian development in adolescents.

Made-up minds: a constructivist approach to artificial intelligence

Part 1 Constructivist AI: introduction and overview - the schema mechanism - an overview, origins of constructivist AI - on the meaning of learning, guide to the rest of the book synopsis of Piagetian development - Piagetian fundamentals, first stage - reflex activity, solipsist images, second stage - the co-ordination of primary schemas, third stage - secondary circular reactions, subjective permanence, fourth stage - co-ordination of secondary schemas, fifth stage - experiments on objects, sixth stage - simulation of events, subsequent periods - preoperational, concrete and formal operations, themes of Piagetian development. Part 2 the schema mechanism: representational elements - structure and use - schemas, items, actions, control construction and revision - marginal attribution - spinning off new schemas, synthetic items, composite actions architecture - neural architecture, computer implementation architecture. Part 3 Performance and speculations: synopsis of schema mechamism performance - the microworld, learning spatial substrates, steps toward intermodal co-ordination, beginnings of the persistent-object concepts, hypothetical scenario of futher developments extrapolations - virtual structures, mechanisms - virtual generalizations, virtual mechanisms non-naive induction - the problem with naive induction, the problem with proposing only non-absurd generalizations, the problem with using only projectable concepts, the problem with preferring entrenched concepts, induction conflicts and deductive overrides, why non-niaive induction must be built in, innateness of projectability judgements, induction and counterfactuals. Part 4 Appraisal: comparisons - modularity for learning - prediction-value vs situation-action systems, the schema and mechanism and connectionism, the schema mechanism and search algorithms, the schema mechanism and explanation-based learning, the schema mechanism and rational learning, virtual mechanism and self-modification, the schema mechanism and situated activity, the schema mechanism and the society of mind, other Piagetian or sensorimotor learning systems conclusion - methodological underpinnings of constructivist AI, directions for future work, evaluation and summary.

Nonverbal Assessment of Piagetian Development: An Analysis of Lancy and Goldstein's Procedures

Thirty-four kindergarten through second-grade children were administered classification, conservation of number, and seriation tasks. The tasks assessing these areas were administered in counterbalanced order using the nonverbal procedures developed by Lancy and Goldstein and procedures outlined by Piaget. The purpose of the investigation was to ascertain whether the Lancy and Goldstein approach and materials are veridical measures of Piagetian cognitive development. The areas selected for comparison were those that Piaget and his colleagues have thoroughly analyzed and to which strict Piagetian criteria could be applied. The results indicate that the nonverbal tasks do not effectively measure concrete operational thought as described by Piaget. They do, however, provide an approach for analysis of children's problem-solving strategy and hypothesis development that can be useful in studies of cognitive processes.

College chemistry and piaget: The relationship of aptitude and achievement measures

AbstractCognitive performance on “An Inventory of Piaget's Developmental Tasks” (IPDT) was related to the Scholastic Aptitude Tests and performance in both college chemistry lecture and laboratory classes. The IPDT is a valid and reliable 72‐item, untimed, multiple‐choice paper‐and‐pencil inventory. It has 18 subtests grouped into five problem areas representing different Piagetian tasks. Subjects (n = 225) from two different levels of introductory chemistry courses participated. IPDT scores were significantly correlated with SAT and placement data. In overall Piagetian development, “A” students rated higher than others. Performance in classification and proportional reasoning problem areas correlated with course achievement, particularly for higher‐level students. Weakest areas of development were indicated by subtest scores and are described with implications for course performance. Finally, Piagetian tasks were related to learning and instructional activities in introductory chemistry classes and are discussed.

A Note on Grading Policies and Grade Inflation

Alternatives for Individualized Biology: The Importance of Cognitive Style and Conceptual Complexity, The American Biology Teacher 37 (May 1975): 291-297. 6. Renner, John W. and William C. Paske. Quantitative Compe tencies of College Students, Journal of College Science Teaching 6 (May 1977): 283-292. 7. Russell, James and Steven Hollander. A Biology Attitude Scale, The American Biology Teacher 37 (May 1975): 270-273. 8. Sayre, Steve A. and Daniel W. Ball. Piagetian Development in Students, Journal of College Science Teaching 5 (Septem ber 1975): 23. 9. Witkin, H. A., Oltman, P. K., Raskin, E. and S. A. Karp. Group Embedded Figures Test Manual. Palo Alto, California: Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc., 1971. 10. Witkin, H., Dyk, R., Faterson, H., Goodenough, D., and S. Karp. Psychological Differentiation. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1962.

Piagetian Cognitive Development and Primary Process Thinking in Children

On the hypothesis that, as children develop from the preoperational to the concrete level of operations, there would be a corresponding increase in the effective control of primary process ideation, 37 white, middle-class children, from 5 to 8 years old, were individually tested on eight Piagetian tasks and the Rorschach test. Piagetian Development was significantly correlated with Holt's Primary Process Manual measures of (a) Form Level, (b) Defense Effectiveness, (c) Adaptive Regression, (d) Primary Process Level 2, (e) Content Level 2, (f) Control/Defense Plus, and (g) Control/Defense Total. An analysis of variance demonstrated significant primary process differences between preoperational, transitional and concrete operational groups. Correlations between the eight Piaget tasks and the constructed mean Piaget score ranged from .65 to .91. The negative findings of other researchers, which contrast with the positive results in this study, may be explained by the narrower age ranges of their samples.