An assessment of intellectual development in a group of black mineworkers

Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate intellectual development of a group of Black mineworkers on a South African gold mine, in the light of their exposure to a technical industrial environment. The research was conducted within a Piagetian framework and attempts to establish:- 1. A conceptual profile which would highlight the subject's conceptual abilities in relation to job skill requirements. 2. An empirical analysis of combined Behavioural and 3. Explanatory responses to support the hypothesis that experienced Black mineworkers should perform better on the diagnostic battery than novices: the main reason for this being the contention that conceptual development is facilitated by cognitive adaptation to the demands of a selectively different technological environment. Whether the battery of Piagetian conservation tasks could be evaluated for use as conservation scales with sound statistical properties. A random sample of fifty six Black mine workers was realised and their performance indicated that:- a ) The concept of Force is not actively developed by mining. b) There was no significant difference in the performance of Novice and Experienced subjects. c) The diagnostic battery in its present form is inadequate and would have to undergo some relative modifications. d) Conceptual profiles showed that concept areas tapped were not developed past the stage of Concrete operations, and that in some instances subjects did not conserve concepts which are relevant to the occupation they were selected for on the Classification Test Battery. e) Piagetian methodology could only be selectively applied to the mining industry for purposes of selection and placement. f) Conservation scales were not realised because of anomalies found in the composition of sub-concepts in the battery.,KMBT_363,Adobe Acrobat 9.53 Paper Capture Plug-in