How does the example of the Zinacanteco Indian girls of southern Mexico illustrate the influence of informal nonschool experiences on operational thought?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Certain informal nonschool experiences can also foster operational thought. Around ages 7 to 8, Zinacanteco Indian girls of southern Mexico, who learn to weave elaborately designed fabrics as an alternative to schooling, engage in mental transformations to figure out how a warp strung on a loom will turn out as woven cloth-reasoning expected at the concrete operational stage. North American children of the same age, who do much better than Zinacanteco children on Piagetian tasks, have great difficulty with these weaving problems. On the basis of such findings, some investigators have concluded that the forms of logic required by Piagetian tasks are heavily influenced by training, context, and cultural conditions.