The Intellectual Development of Yoruba Children: A Re-Examination

Abstract

A study of Yoruba Ss from traditional (OJE) and educated (ELITE) homes suggested that the advantage of economically and intellectually privileged socialisation was greatest at three years of age but diminished by five years. The present study sought to investigate Abiola's convergence hypothesis by assessing threeand-a-half to eight-year-old OJE and ELITE Ss on a Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale, a range of Piagetian tasks appropriate to concrete operational thought, and on a relational concept learning problem. No evidence of convergence was found which reached acceptable levels of significance. A coefficient indicating steeper growth under five years for OJE Ss and an absolutely steeper curve for ELITE Ss over five years was noted. An intervention program for OJE Ss was proposed to compensate for the intellectual advantage of ELITE Ss socialized by westernised and highly educated parents.