Review_Author: Lisa floreck
Book_Author: A.R. Luria
Book_Title: Cognitive Development: Its Cultural and Social Foundations
Reference: 1977, U.S.A.
Date: 2/28/00
Time: 9:42:01 AM
Remote Name: 207.239.0.112
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Cognitive Development: Its Cultural and Social Foundations demonstrates the effect of literacy and sociohistorical influence on cognitive processes. The author feels that many of the traditional ways of interpreting cognition and psychology are lacking in that they do not include the role of society and history in their theory. Over the course of eight chapters, Luria illustrates how lack of education inhibits mental processes such as perception, abstract reasoning, inference, problem solving, imagination and self awareness. Luria begins with an introduction to the history of cognitive processes and the limitations of the scientific psychological approach. In chapters 2 through 7, Luria opens with a hypothesis regarding how literacy and sociohistorical influence will affect a particular cognitive process. Next he reviews methodology for studies he has undergone and dedicates the remainder of the chapter to examples from participants which substantiate his hypothesis. The final chapter is a summary of his conclusions drawn from chapters 2 through 7.
This is a scholarly book drawn broadly from research conducted in Russia. It is appropriate for students or any individual interested in learning about sociohistorical influence on cognitive processes. Readers should find it easy to read. It lacks technical terms which may preclude readers from grasping concepts and text is supplemented with examples from Luria's studies which assist the reader in absorbing and conferring with the notions of the author. Studies are qualitative in nature and thus, the methodology and interpretation of results do not require knowledge of statistical methods. Although qualititative, the investigators did not merely record responses to problems, they repeatedly questioned the participants as to the nature of their responses and why or how they arrived at a particular decision. This further questioning enabled the researchers to ascertain the qualitative features of the mental processes involved in coming to a particular conclusion.
Chapter 1 begins by reviewing the weaknesses of the scientific psychological approach. Luria proports that traditional psychology treated cognitive development in such a way that the same mental processes could be applied similarly to animals and humans across all cultures. He believes that this approach ignores higher mental processes. Lurias view is that higher cognitive activity is not individual in nature but rather changes in the course of historical development. This is illustrated with examples of child development. He indicates that a child's reflection of reality is based on specific individual experiences but that an adolescent's behavior is mediated through norms established by social experience. In the second chapter the reader is taken through a series of studies which support the authors belief that perception has a sociohistorical influence. The primary purpose of the studies in this chapter was to explore how individuals from differing subpopulations varied in their ability to identify particular colors or objects and then classify them into groupings. Results show that those without formal education tended to classify colors and geometric shapes into objects familiar to them as opposed to names of colors or geometric figures. For example, those who were literate or of higher cultural levels used categories such as circle, square, blue, light blue to describe objects and color whereas the illiterate group would have used the words such as moon, window, lake, sky. Those without an education grouped things according to the practical purpose they served in their lives. This precluded the less literate in reorganizing categories when asked by the researcher. The studies indicate that education and culture have a heavy influence on perception of color, shape and optical illusion. In chapter 3, Luria shows how education impacts cognitive ability and facilitates the transition of practical to abstract thinking. Categorical thinking requires abstract reasoning and those exhibiting this type of thinking are usually flexible and readily shift from one attribute to another when asked. On the contrary, when individuals use situational thinking, objects are not grouped according to logic but are idiosyncratic to a particular experience or situation. Those exhibiting situational thinking find it difficult to shift their thoughts. This group of studies found that those who are less culturally advanced view things in practical terms and lack the ability to group things in the abstract. Illiterate participants used situational reasoning and resisted using categorical reasoning when suggested by the researcher. Illiterate participants with some educational exposure had the ability to adopt abstract reasoning although their immediate tendency was situational. Lastly, educated participants were able to demonstrate abstract reasoning. Thus, Luria,indicates how education allows for the capability of defining concepts and perceiving objects in relation to other concepts.
Deduction and inference are covered in Chapter 4 and several different methods are used to examine these processes. In the first series, the participants were read a syllogism and were asked to repeat it. Illiterate participants are unable to repeat it and the conclusion drawn is that the syllogism is perceived as a series of isolated judgements that don't result in deduction. The second series of studies examine 2 subgroups of people and assess whether deductions can be made when given a syllogism in which a) it may be possible that a person can draw from prior experience and b) deduction is the only means of solving the syllogism. Results indicate that those with a formal education came to the correct answer 100% of the time and that of those who were illiterate 30% (n=4) could not come up with the correct answer even after being prompted by the researcher. However, one limitation of the first study is that asking the participants to repeat the syllogism goes against the knowledge we now how of the capacity of short term memory. Thus this study is confounded by our limits of short term memory and may not be accurate in assessing whether or not illiterate individuals interpret syllogisms in terms of isolated pieces.
The remainder of the chapters are dedicated to problem solving, imagination and self awareness. In chapter 5, Luria discusses problem solving and finds those will less education are not able to solve problems and tended to resort to guessing and personal experience. Illiterate participants found it extremely difficult to accept logic in solving a problem if it conflicts with their personal experience. They resisted solving the problem for the 'problems sake' and researchers found it difficult to induce formal logical reasoning on the participants. However, if the problem conformed to reality it was more readily solved.
Imagination is covered in Chapter 6. Luria draws the conclusion that imagination appears to be inhibited in those lacking education although he expresses the limitations of the research methods imposed in this chapter. He states that, 'the limited capacities of these illiterate and only barely literate peasants for disengaging themselves from direct experience created major barriers to the active formation of questions and knowledge' (pp. 140-141).
Self Analysis is the final topic covered in Chapter 7. The results support those which were made in the previous chapters. Those without a formal education were not able to communicate their strengths or weaknesses intrinsic to their being and tended to look at external features of their lives. Luria hypothesized that the formulation of psychological features is a 'complex process taking shape under the direct influence of the same social practices that determine other aspects of mental life'. Less educated people only grasped the analysis of themselves in relation to external material circumstances or everyday situations. The ability to grasp one's own inner self is thus, a result of social relations.
Throughout the book, Luria emphasizes that cognitive processes are not strictly individual in nature but a result of culture and literacy. Each chapter supports his ideas and reflects the extent to which cognitive processes are mediated by sociohistorical influence. Some readers may find the conclusions to be subjective since the studies were qualitative and based on as few as 20 to 30 participants. This is what I see to be the only weakness of the book. However, Luria did address the fact that studies are not of a psychometric nature and was open to expressing weaknesses of his methodology when appropriate. In general, the illustrations in the book do appear to support Luria conclusions and many readers should feel strongly that this book does a good job of illustrating the role of sociolhistorical influence on mental processes. I would recomment this book to any person interested in learning about how society, culture and education mediate cognitive development.