N, Sahu. (1997). A Survey of the Selected Factors in a Tribal Community of the Gujarat State Affecting the Cognitive Growth and Development of its Children. Unpublished. Ph.D., Education. Gujrat University, Ahmedabad,Gujrat.
The main objectives of the study were: (1) To study the growth and development of GTC (Gujarati Tribal Children) of grades I to IV by CogAT as Piagetian Conservation Tasks (PiCT). (2) To study the relationship of CogAT as well as PiCT scores (Y1 and Y2) with a number of independent variable measures (X1 to X12 ), namely, intelligence, visual recall, number of siblings, birth order, pupils personality traits, SES of parents, qualification of teachers, experience of teachers, teacher’s interest in academic growth, teacher’s effectiveness and academic achievement of pupils.
The sample was selected by Stratified Cluster Sampling method. The sample comprised of 829 pupils (519 boys and 310 girls) of grades I to IV belonging to Tribal community in Gujarat state.
The grade wise break up was 199, 211, 212 and 207 for grades I to IV respectively. The final Randomized Proportionate sample actually used in canonical analysis consisted of 182 subjects. CogAT for grades I and II (non-verbal) and CogAT for grades III and IV (verbal) were developed and used to measure cognitive ability. The PiCT (modified for GTC) was used to have a second measure of cognitive ability. Intelligence was measured by “Incomplete Man (grades I and II) and Draw a Man Test" (grades III and IV). Visual recall was measured by adapted test of Sudha Patel. Twelve Different achievement tests were constructed to measure academic achievement in Gujarati, Mathematics and Environment for GTC of grades I to IV. Information Data Sheets for parents as well as for teachers were prepared to collect the data regarding other variables.
It was a survey research and also a correlational study, using canonical analysis.
The data was analysed through t-test, multiple regression analysis and canonical analysis. Descriptive statistics were computed for all the variables.
The major findings were: (1) Sex differences were observed in grades III and IV only, in favour of girls. (2) Mean scores on all the seven PiCTs went on increasing from grade I to IV, in gradual harmony. (3) No significant sex difference was found in grades I to IV on the composite scores of seven PiCTs. (4) Three variables, namely, number of siblings, qualification of teachers and academic achievement of pupils had combined effect of 32.25% for predicting cognitive ability (CA) scores on CogAT. (5) Only the pupil’s inclination towards education was effective to the extent of 25.4% for predicting CA on PiCT. (6) The canonical analysis showed that only two covariates, number of siblings and qualification of teachers were prominent for CA on CogAT. (7) According to canonical analysis only the pupil’s inclination towards education was significant for CA on PiCT.
Keyword(s): Selected Factors, Tribal Community , Gujarat State , Cognitive Growth, Development , Children