[Maths-Education] Early Sorting
John Mason
jhmason27 at googlemail.com
Thu Mar 10 23:57:12 GMT 2011
Hi Alison, Alexandre
None of this is large scale empirical in basis, but might be helpful.
A)
Edouard Claparède (1919), proposed a Law of Awareness, often cited
approvingly by Piaget, which took thinking to be a standby activity,
invoked only when existing habits failed to deliver an adequate response.
Claparède, E. 1919: La conscience de la ressemblance et de la difference
chez l'enfant. /Archives de Psychologie/, XVII, 67-80
Law of Awareness is quoted by Vygotsky as saying 'awareness of
difference precedes awareness of likeness' (Vygotsky p163).
Vygotsky, L. (1986/1997) A. Kozulin (Ed.) /Thought & Language/. London:
MIT Press.
This links closely to Ference Marton's Variation Theory.
B)
It is a well known phenomenon (I would look in Brown 1973 for possible
confirmation) that children distinguish particulars from general (e.g.
crows from birds) before they assemble them into class inclusion.
Brown, R. 1973, /A First Language,/ MIT, Cambridge.
There might be something in one of these as well:
Hudson, Liam, 1968, Frames of Mind, Methuen, London.
Hughes, M. (1986). /Children and Number/: /difficulties in learning
mathematics/ Oxford : Basil Blackwell.
JohnM
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