Despite its diminished influence, Piaget’s theory continues to serve as a basis for other views. One theory has expanded on Piaget’s work by suggesting a possible fifth, adult, period of development, such as “problem finding.” Problem finding comes before problem solving; it is the process of identifying problems that are worth solving in the first place. A second course has identified periods of development that are quite different from those suggested by Piaget. A third course has been to accept the periods of development Piaget proposed but to hold that they have different cognitive bases. Some of the theories in the third group emphasize the importance of memory capacity. For example, it has been shown that children’s difficulties in solving transitive inference problems such as If A is greater than B, B is greater than C, and D is less than C, which is the greatest? result primarily from memory limitations rather than reasoning limitations (as Piaget had argued). A fourth course has been to focus on the role of knowledge in development. Some investigators argue that much of what has been attributed to reasoning and problem-solving ability in intellectual development is actually better attributed to the extent of the child’s knowledge.

The environmental viewpoint

The views of intellectual development described above all emphasize the importance of the individual in intellectual development. But an alternative viewpoint emphasizes the importance of the individual’s environment, particularly his social environment. This view is related to the cognitive-contextual theories discussed above. Championed originally by the Russian psychologist L.S. Vygotsky, this viewpoint suggests that intellectual development may be largely influenced by a child’s interactions with others: a child sees others thinking and acting in certain ways and then internalizes and models what is seen. An elaboration of this view is the suggestion by the Israeli psychologist Reuven Feuerstein that the key to intellectual development is what he called “mediated learning experience.” The parent mediates, or interprets, the environment for the child, and it is largely through this mediation that the child learns to understand and interpret the world.

The role of environment is particularly evident in studies across cultures. In her research on the cultural contexts of intelligence, Greenfield, while studying indigenous Mayan people, found that the Mayan conception of intelligence is much more collective than the conception of intelligence in European or North American cultures. To the Maya, much of being intelligent involves being able to work with others effectively. In addition, the psychologist Elena Grigorenko and her colleagues, in “The Organization of Luo Conceptions of Intelligence: A Study of Implicit Theories in a Kenyan Village” (2001), found that rural Kenyans have a broad conception of intelligence that emphasizes moral behaviour, particularly duty to others.

Children who grow up in environments that do not stress Western principles of education may not be able to demonstrate their abilities on conventional Western intelligence tests. Sternberg and others have found that rural Tanzanian children performed much better on skills tests when they were given extended instruction beyond the normal test instructions. Without this additional instruction, however, the children did not always understand what they were supposed to do, and, because of this, they underperformed on the tests. Similarly, a study in Kenya measured children’s knowledge of natural remedies used to combat parasites and other common illnesses. Tests for this type of knowledge were combined with conventional Western tests of intelligence and academic achievement. Results showed a negative correlation between practical intelligence (knowledge of medical remedies) and academic achievement. These findings suggested that in some cultures, academic skills may not be particularly valued; as a result, the brighter children invest more effort in acquiring practical skills.