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Contributions of ability and attainment testing in Africa to a general theory of intellect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2011

S. H. Irvine
S. H. Irvine
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Althouse College of Education, University of Western Ontario
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Summary

Factor analytic studies in Africa are compared with other cross-cultural investigations into the structure of abilities in different ethnic groups. Similarities and differences are noted; and environmental influences on the acquisition of skills are also summarized. A correlational study of wrong answers to a battery of thirty marker tests given to a group of predominantly Mashona students indicates that efficiency skills of numerical facility and memory remain at the first order of factor extraction, reasoning abilities emerge in second-order analysis, while perceptual styles are present in the third-order level. This study is used to hypothesize, in thecontext of African systems of thought, the existence of a primary thought mode that asserts itself in conditions involving repeated errors.

Type
Physiological and psychological aspects
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 1 , supplement S1: Biosocial Aspects of Race , 1969 , pp. 91 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1969

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