Internal and External Influences on Cognitive Developmental Change

SNYDER, SAMUEL S., and FELDMAN, DAVID H. Internal and External Influences on Cognitive Developmental Change. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 937-943. A map-drawing task, scored for modal developmental level and level mixture, was used to test the effects of external and internal disequilibrium on modal level advance. Discrepancy between a model map and a child's pretest drawing defined external disequilibrium; level mixture defined internal disequilibrium. 63 fifth graders, grouped by level mixture, received instruction differing in degree of external disequilibrium. Results confirmed a facilitating effect of instruction provided at levels higher than the pretest mode. The concept of level mixture was clarified by introducing a measure of directionality, the bias index, which was found to be related to advance. 3 systematic patterns of developmental change in response to instruction were identified and discussed.