New data on the Vygotsky-Sakharov task of forming artificial concepts / Nuevos datos sobre la tarea de formación de conceptos artificiales Vygotsky-Sakharov

The results from a study that administered the Vygotsky-Sakharov artificial concept formation task (Hanfmann & Kasanin administration and scoring system) to children aged 8, 11 and 15 years who attend classes at urban schools in middle and very low socioeconomic status (SES) neighbourhoods of Montevideo, Uruguay, are presented. Videotaped interviews were used to perform a microgenetic analysis of the solving process. The overall results showed a performance improvement related to age, increased ability to benefit from information provided during the task, the role of language in the problem solving process and the prominence of the Vygotskian description of phases in the development of generalization structures. The results suggested that there are differences between subjects from different socioeconomic contexts; however, further research is required.