THE CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY OF INTELLIGENCE: PIAGET AND THE BAOULÉ*

There are two aspects of Piaget's theory that can be at least partly distinguished: (1) The stage theory, or the development of particular concepts through a series of hierarchical stages; (2) The metatheory, or the interactionist model of adaptation (assimilation and accommodation) that explains the mechanisms of cognitive development. Most cross-cultural research has been based on the first of these aspects, using and adapting “Piagetian tasks ”in various conceptual areas. Some findings of this line of enquiry, and the methodological problems encountered, are briefly reviewed. It is argued that no specific task, nor a combination of them, can be taken to measure a general cognitive level; the tasks measure the attainment of particular concepts rather than “intelligence”. New evidence is presented on the reliability and validity of Piagetian tasks used in a cross-cultural setting. In the second model, intelligence is broadly defined as adaptation to the environment; in this conception it would be reasonable to expect divergent paths of cognitive development in different cultures. In other words, one might need a different Piagetian psychology in each culture, but based on universal deep mechanisms. As a modest contribution to a more “emic ”study of intelligence, the concept of intelligence as defined by the Baoulé of Ivory Coast, n'glouèlě is presented and discussed. Ratings on n'glouèlě and its different components are related to performance on Piagetian tasks in a sample of 8- to 9-year-old rural Baoulé children. The thrust of the paper is to point out once more the cultural relativity of any conception of intelligence, be it from a Piagetian or any other perspective.     

BASIC PREMISES OF MULTIDIMENSIONAL ATTITUDE CHANGE THEORY: AN EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS

Multidimensional attitude change models propose that (1) stimuli defining the domain of attitudes may consist of a multidimensional rather than unidimensional pattern; (2) stimuli associated with each other in the persuasion process will converge with each other in the multidimensional attitude domain. These two propositions receive clear support from three of the hypotheses tested in four-panel cohort data, which analyses show to be multidimensional. The sources of a persuasive message converge on the position they advocate. Multiple sources converge on each other. The findings provided partial support for two other hypotheses on the convergence of self-concept with advocated position and with sources of a persuasive message. A final, somewhat tangential hypothesis also receives clear support: existential associations of concepts are more effective than hortatory associations. These results support further development of multidimensional attitude change models.     

DIMENSION ANALYSIS OF THE PERCEPTION OF INSTRUMENTAL TIMBRE

W edin L. & G oude G. Dimension analysis of the perception of instrumental timbre. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1972, 1 3 , 228–240.—The dimensionality of the perception of instrumental timbre for single tones was investigated through multidimensional scaling according to Ekman's vector model of similarity. Three factors were extracted and they were identified with certain characteristics of the spectrum envelopes. It was found that initial transients were important for the identifiability of instrumental tones but their presence or absence did not influence the dimensional structure. The "perceptual structure" was found to be different from the "cognitive structure" (= knowledge about the classification of the instruments), and the results are general for both trained and naive listeners.     

Developmental change and the multidimensional cognitive system

The cognitive system is a multidimensional, hierarchically-structured arrangement of cognitive dimensions functionally organized into three subsystems: perceiving, conceptualizing, and symbolizing. Ontogenetic change in these subsystems is described using theoretical concepts from both multivariate developmental psychology and systems theory. Both quantitative and qualitative changes in cognitive dimensions are discussed, including a synthesis of relevant empirical research. The Gompertz equation is used to describe the general form of quantitative change throughout the life-span. The pattern oo quantitative development involves growth, stability, and decline. The pattern of qualitative development, or shifts in structural organization, also invloves three periods: divergence, parallelism, and paraller-convergence. Thus, the overall quantitative-qualitative synthesis reveals a three-phase sequence of cognitive development: divergent growth (childhood- adolescence), parallel stability (adulthood), and parallel-convergent decline (old age).     

Why concepts can't be theories

In this paper, I present an alternative argument for Jerry Fodor's recent conclusion that there are currently no tenable theories of concepts in the cognitive sciences and in the philosophy of mind. Briefly, my approach focuses on the ‘theory-theory’ of concepts. I argue that the two ways in which cognitive psychologists have formulated this theory lead to serious difficulties, and that there cannot be, in principle, a third way in which it can be reformulated. Insofar as the ‘theory-theory’ is supposed to replace, and to rectify the problems of, the earlier ‘classical’ and ‘probabilistic’ theories, its failure confirms Fodor's original observation. Since my critique does not rest on controversial philosophical assumptions and is readily available from within the cognitive sciences, it is a stronger argument than Fodor's.     

A STRUCTURE-MAPPING APPROACH TO COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Several contemporary theories of cognitive development appear to agree that children progress through a hierarchy of increasingly powerful cognitive organizations, and that higher-level organizations impose greater information-processing loads. Although theories differ in their method of defining both the levels and the information-processing loads they impose, it is possible to find considerable common ground. In this paper it is argued that the different levels of cognitive organization can be attributed to a hierarchy of structure-mapping rules. Structure mapping is part of the process by which children represent and understand concepts. Four levels of structure mapping are defined. The levels, from lowest to highest, are based on element mappings, relational mappings, system mappings and multiple-system mappings. The higher-level rules are more ‘abstract’ in the sense of being less dependent on specific properties of each task, and are more transferable. However, they also impose higher information-processing demands. Children who lack the information-processing capacity for a particular level of structure mapping will be able to attain concepts that belong to that level. The theory is used to predict the characteristic age of attainment of cognitive tasks including transitivity, classification, interpretation of algebraic expressions, analogies, logical reasoning, and hypothesis testing. It is argued that the four-structure mapping levels can subsume the four main stages of cognitive development.     

Depression and Anxiety: Integrating the Tripartite and Cognitive Content-Specificity Assessment Models

The cognitive content-specificity hypothesis proposes that depression and anxiety can be discriminated on the basis of unique cognitive profiles. Alternatively, the Tripartite model suggests that, although depression and anxiety share a general distress factor, anhedonia is a characteristic of depression with anxious arousal a characteristic of anxiety. Past research devoted to integrating these two models has been limited in a number of ways. To remedy these limitations, this study attempted to assess the complete Tripartite model and used a multidimensional cognitive assessment tool to handle the heterogeneity of anxious cognitive content. Results on data collected from 411 clients seeking services at a university counseling center suggested that a one-to-one mapping between Tripartite dimensions and cognitive content was possible. Further, variables from each model simultaneously explained unique variance in depression and anxiety ratings.     

皮亚杰理论近期的若干发展──差别观点的贡献

皮亚杰认知发展理论的一个新趋势是从智力发展的认识论过渡到智力发展的心理学,差别心理学的近期实验研究为这一过渡提供了方法。后皮亚杰学派理论对差别心理的强调在教育学和临床心理学中有着重要意义。     

社会认知职业理论与传统职业理论比较研究

社会认知的职业理论将心理、社会、经济等影响因素通过自我效能、结果期待和目标3个核心概念整合起来,动态性地揭示职业选择和发展的全过程,克服了传统理论将心理、社会、经济等影响因素分割开来进行研究并建构理论、缺乏动态性等局限性,使职业理论更全面。但和传统职业理论相比,该理论还存在概念比较模糊,操作性较差等不足。     

对心理理论两成分认知模型的验证

Tager-Flusberg 和 Sullivan（2000）从主体信息加工的角度出发首次提出了一个心理理论模型,认为心理理论包括两个成分：一个是社会知觉成分,一个是社会认知成分。本研究设计了一个适合儿童特点的测查社会知觉成分的任务,将对心理理论两成分模型作进一步的验证,并对语言和心理理论两个成分的关系进行了初步探讨。被试为90名3~5岁的儿童,男女各半。结果表明心理理论的认知成分同语言相关密切,而知觉成分同语言没有表现出明显的相关。这个结果为该认知模型提供了进一步的证据     

认知风格理论研究的进展

认知风格理论的研究从20世纪40年代开始,不同的研究者提出了不同的认知风格理论,并从单一的划分维度发展到多维度综合理论。而认知风格的应用也从教育领域扩大到了职业等其他领域,从而有了更广阔的研究范围。     

THE ACQUISITION OF CONSERVATION OF SUBSTANCE AND WEIGHT IN CHILDREN

S medslund , J. The acquisition of conservation of substance and weight in children. I. Introduction. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1961, 2 , 11–20.—This is the first in a series of articles concerning the problem of how children acquire the concepts of conservation of substance and weight. The four alternative interpretations of nativism, maturation theory, learning theory and equilibration theory are discussed. It is concluded that nativism and maturation theory do not account for the known facts. An important issue is whether the concepts are established by external reinforcement (learning theory) or by a process of inner equilibration, as maintained by Piaget.     

Motivational Effects of Outcome Feedback on Motor Performance

This study examined the effects of success and failure feedback on subsequent motor performance. Based upon the general motivation (or level-of-aspiration) hypothesis, initial success should lead to better subsequent performance than does initial failure, while the reverse prediction was derived from the cognitive dissonance theory. To test these rival hypotheses, two experiments were conducted on undergraduate male students (n =120) performing a motor maze task. Initial failure improved subjects’ subsequent performance, thus supporting the dissonance theory. However, this effect was observed only under low-ego-involving conditions, thereby suggesting that the effects of dissonance and ego involvement are interdependent. The findings were discussed in terms of motivational and informational/attributional effects of outcome feedback on motor performance.     

The neural substrate for dreaming: is it a subsystem of the default network?

Building on the content, developmental, and neurological evidence that there are numerous parallels between waking cognition and dreaming, this article argues that the likely neural substrate that supports dreaming, which was discovered through converging lesion and neuroimaging studies, may be a subsystem of the waking default network, which is active during mind wandering, daydreaming, and simulation. Support for this hypothesis would strengthen the case for a more general neurocognitive theory of dreaming that starts with established findings and concepts derived from studies of waking cognition and neurocognition. If this theory is correct, then dreaming may be the quintessential cognitive simulation because it is often highly complex, often includes a vivid sensory environment, unfolds over a duration of a few minutes to a half hour, and is usually experienced as real while it is happening.     

THE FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE BEM SEX-ROLE INVENTORY (BSRI)

Research on the factor structure of the Bem Sex-Role Inventory generally indicates the existence of a number of smaller factors in addition to a major Masculine factor and a major Feminine factor. This has led to a suggestion that contrary to Bern's proposal, the scale is multidimensional. The present study attempted to examine further the factor structure of BSRI when applied to a non-Western sample. The results of a factor analysis appear to confirm the suggestion that BSRI is multidimensional. There are also indications that both the Masculine and the Feminine scales have high internal consistencies which can be improved further if certain items were removed.     

NAGEL VS. NAGEL ON THE NATURE OF PHENOMENAL CONCEPTS

In a footnote to his ‘What is it Like to be a Bat?’, Thomas Nagel sketches a promising account of phenomenal concepts that purports to explain why mind‐body identity statements, even if necessary, will always seem contingent. Christopher Hill and Brian McLaughlin have recently developed this sketch into a more robust theory. In Nagel's more recent work, however, he suggests that the only adequate theory of phenomenal concepts is one that makes the relation between phenomenal and physical states intelligible, or ‘transparent’. Developing such a theory, however, appears to be no easy task. In this paper I argue that the Nagel‐Hill‐McLaughlin proposal is preferable – and that a serious problem with it, noticed by Stephen Yablo, can be avoided by revising the proposal according to some further suggestions made by Nagel himself.     

INTEGRAL ECOLOGY: THE WHAT,WHO, AND HOW OF ENVIRONMENTAL PHENOMENA

Providing an overview of Integral Ecology, this article defines and explains some of the key terms and concepts that underlie an approach to the environment that is inspired by and makes use of Ken Wilber's Integral Theory. First Integral Ecology is distinguished from other environmental approaches. Then Wilber's Integral Theory is introduced, which provides a foundation for a participatory approach to ecology. Next, the ontology, epistemology, and methodology of environmental phenomena is examined in light of Wilber's framework and illustrated with multidimensional examples of recycling. Finally, an Integral Ecology platform is presented.     

智力开发的聪明理论

聪明理论是一个以信息加工理论为基础,通过训练个体信息加工过程的认知基本成分,开发智力的理论体系。从智力开发、认知发展、认知基本成分及其与智力发展的关系等角度阐述了聪明理论的观点。聪明理论的训练系统可用于开发智力潜能、设置教育计划和课程,进行心理与临床诊断等多个实践领域。聪明理论是一个崭新的密切联系实践的智力开发理论。     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF NONMETRIC SPACE ANALYSIS: A LETTER TO PROFESSOR JOHN ROSS

A series of recent studies (Cliff, 1968, 1969; Cliff, Bradley, and Girard, 1970) describe a mathematical model for the cognitive processes involved in an individual's endorsements (or nonendorsements) of personality inventory items. In this model, the inventory items are assumed to occupy positions in a multidimensional space of subjective meaning, and the probability of endorsement is assumed to be some mathematical funotion of these positions.