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Application of cluster analysis to the study of piagetian stages of intellectual development
Author(s) -
Deluca Frederick P.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/tea.3660180109
Subject(s) - psychology , piaget's theory of cognitive development , intellectual development , developmental psychology , cognitive development , cluster (spacecraft) , cognition , cognitive psychology , neuroscience , computer science , programming language
The purpose of this study was to reexamine Piagetian stages by way of the application of cluster analysis and to seek information concerning the occurrence of stages and the influence of different tasks and gender on cluster patterns. Six Piagetian tasks were administered to 182 males and 176 females ages 9 through 18 years old. Analysis and interpretation of the data suggested the following conclusions: (1) Piagetian stages exist as a general sequence through which intellectual development progresses; however, the males in the study conformed more to Piagetian stages than did the females; (2) deviation from Piagetian stages was influenced by gender and the type of task; (3) lack of synchronization of substages across several tasks suggested that Piagetian tasks were more situation‐specific than indicated by Piaget, and it also helped to explain why strong, correlations among tasks at a given level have been difficult to obtain; (4) for the males, the greatest discontinuity occurred between substages IIIA and IIIB, not between IIB and IIIA as stated by Piaget; and (5) the group of 13‐year‐old females tended to cluster with the 17‐ and 18‐year‐old female groups, but it was not known why.