The development of the concept of conservation in Australian aboriginal children

Abstract

This study describes the application of Piaget's tests of conservation of quantity, weight, volume, length, area and number to two groups of Aboriginal children living on mission stations in the Northern Territory of Australia. The first part of the thesis is devoted to a consideration of the theoretical background of the study. In the first chapter Piaget 1 s general theory of intellectual development is outlined, and the problem of the comparative study of intellectual development is considered. It is pointed out that little research in this area has been undertaken, and reasons for this neglect are suggested. Levy-Bruhl's theory of primitive thinking is reviewed, and the parallels between the theories of Piaget and Levy-Bruhl are discussed. It is suggested that the techniques developed by Piaget in his study of the intellectual development of children could be applied to the study of intellectual development in primitive peoples, and that these techniques could be used to test Levy-Bruhl's theory. The implications of Piaget's theory and its relation to other problems in psychology are also discussed. In the second chapter the theoretical basis of the tests used in the present study is outlined, and in Chapter III a number of related studies are reviewed. The second part of the thesis deals with the study itself...