Degree: Master of Arts Department: Psychology / This study explored children’s perceptions of death from a Piagetian perspective. While a few international studies exist which have explored this issue, it was deemed useful to evaluate the perceptions of South African children. It seems that many researchers have not taken into account the importance of broader contextual experience in children’s perceptions of death, and it was felt that the current high death rate in South Africa may impact on both or either the rate and level at which children start to engage with and understand the concept of death. The participants of the current study were between the ages of five and twelve years, and were drawn from a Gauteng Place of Safety and a preschool. Individual, structured interviews were conducted on this cross-sectional population. The interviews contained questions adapted from Koocher’s (1973) research in this area, and responses were analysed by means of a traditional content analysis. It was found that children had a basic understanding of death concepts by the age of approximately seven years old. It was also found that the youngest age group of children possess an awareness of death, but tend to view it as reversible and not final. An understanding of the finality of death emerges around the age of seven. In general, the participant’s responses showed a close relationship between Piaget’s stages of cognitive development and how the young child reasons about death.

The Piagetian invisible displacement task has been used extensively in the field of comparative cognition to measure representational capacity. In the task a desirable object is hidden beneath one of several hiding boxes via a displacement device, such as a small opaque container. Success on the task is deemed to require that the invisible trajectory of the object be mentally represented and its current location inferred. That is, the task is supposed to measure the ability to ”think” of something that is occurring outside of direct perception. However, simple associative strategies may also lead to success in the absence of stringent control conditions. Among mammals, only great apes and domestic dogs have consistently performed above chance on the invisible displacement task. There is much converging evidence from other tasks to suggest that great apes have a capacity for representational thought. However, dogs have shown few signs of possessing the representational abilities generally thought necessary to pass the task. Thus, in Chapter 2, four experiments investigated how dogs (n = 35) find an object that has been invisibly displaced behind one of three opaque boxes under four control conditions devised to separate associative search strategies from performance based on mental representation. Strategies involving experimenter cue-use, search at the last or first box visited by the displacement device, and search at boxes adjacent to the displacement device were systematically controlled for. Dogs passed invisible displacements, but only if the device used to displace the object was adjacent to the target box following displacements. These results suggest that the search behaviour of dogs was guided by simple associative rules rather than mental representation of the past trajectory of the object. In contrast, Experiment 5 found that, on the same task, 18- and 24-month-old children (n = 21) showed no disparity between trials in which the displacement device was adjacent or non-adjacent to the target box. In Chapter 3, two chimpanzees were tested on single invisible displacements under the same four control conditions that were administered to dogs. In contrast to dogs, chimpanzees showed no indications of utilizing these simple strategies, suggesting that their capacity to mentally represent single invisible displacements is comparable to that of 18- to 24-month-old children. Chapter 4 followed up reports of children and apes' difficulty with double invisible displacements in which an object is hidden at two non-adjacent boxes in a linear array. Experiment 1 eliminated the possibility that chimpanzees' previous poor performance was due to the hiding direction of the displacement device. Subjects failed double non-adjacent displacements, showing a tendency to select adjacent boxes. In Experiments 2 and 3, chimpanzees and 24-month-old children were tested on a new adaptation of the task involving four hiding boxes presented in a diamondshaped array on a vertical plane. Both species performed above chance on double invisible displacements using this format, suggesting that previous poor performance was due to a response bias or inhibition problem rather than a fundamental limitation in representational capacity. In Chapter 5, I conducted a pilot study examining the performance of siamangs and a spider monkey on single and double invisible displacements. Performance was mixed but provides some promising evidence that invisible displacements are within the capacity of siamangs. In contrast to siamangs and chimpanzees, but like dogs, the spider monkey showed a significant tendency to search at a box adjacent to the displacement device on single invisible displacements. However, the spider monkey performed above chance on an impromptu test of single invisible displacements presented in the vertical format. Further study is needed to eliminate alternative associative strategies in these two species. In Chapter 6, I discuss the findings of the studies with dogs, chimpanzees, 2- year-old children, siamangs, and a spider monkey on invisible displacement understanding. The results highlight the importance of associative strategies and inhibition problems. The thesis presents strong evidence for stage 6 invisible displacement understanding, and thus representational thought, in chimpanzees and 2- year-old children, but suggests that dogs are capable of only stage 5 object permanence understanding.

The Piagetian invisible displacement task has been used extensively in the field of comparative cognition to measure representational capacity. In the task a desirable object is hidden beneath one of several hiding boxes via a displacement device, such as a small opaque container. Success on the task is deemed to require that the invisible trajectory of the object be mentally represented and its current location inferred. That is, the task is supposed to measure the ability to ”think” of something that is occurring outside of direct perception. However, simple associative strategies may also lead to success in the absence of stringent control conditions. Among mammals, only great apes and domestic dogs have consistently performed above chance on the invisible displacement task. There is much converging evidence from other tasks to suggest that great apes have a capacity for representational thought. However, dogs have shown few signs of possessing the representational abilities generally thought necessary to pass the task. Thus, in Chapter 2, four experiments investigated how dogs (n = 35) find an object that has been invisibly displaced behind one of three opaque boxes under four control conditions devised to separate associative search strategies from performance based on mental representation. Strategies involving experimenter cue-use, search at the last or first box visited by the displacement device, and search at boxes adjacent to the displacement device were systematically controlled for. Dogs passed invisible displacements, but only if the device used to displace the object was adjacent to the target box following displacements. These results suggest that the search behaviour of dogs was guided by simple associative rules rather than mental representation of the past trajectory of the object. In contrast, Experiment 5 found that, on the same task, 18- and 24-month-old children (n = 21) showed no disparity between trials in which the displacement device was adjacent or non-adjacent to the target box. In Chapter 3, two chimpanzees were tested on single invisible displacements under the same four control conditions that were administered to dogs. In contrast to dogs, chimpanzees showed no indications of utilizing these simple strategies, suggesting that their capacity to mentally represent single invisible displacements is comparable to that of 18- to 24-month-old children. Chapter 4 followed up reports of children and apes' difficulty with double invisible displacements in which an object is hidden at two non-adjacent boxes in a linear array. Experiment 1 eliminated the possibility that chimpanzees' previous poor performance was due to the hiding direction of the displacement device. Subjects failed double non-adjacent displacements, showing a tendency to select adjacent boxes. In Experiments 2 and 3, chimpanzees and 24-month-old children were tested on a new adaptation of the task involving four hiding boxes presented in a diamondshaped array on a vertical plane. Both species performed above chance on double invisible displacements using this format, suggesting that previous poor performance was due to a response bias or inhibition problem rather than a fundamental limitation in representational capacity. In Chapter 5, I conducted a pilot study examining the performance of siamangs and a spider monkey on single and double invisible displacements. Performance was mixed but provides some promising evidence that invisible displacements are within the capacity of siamangs. In contrast to siamangs and chimpanzees, but like dogs, the spider monkey showed a significant tendency to search at a box adjacent to the displacement device on single invisible displacements. However, the spider monkey performed above chance on an impromptu test of single invisible displacements presented in the vertical format. Further study is needed to eliminate alternative associative strategies in these two species. In Chapter 6, I discuss the findings of the studies with dogs, chimpanzees, 2- year-old children, siamangs, and a spider monkey on invisible displacement understanding. The results highlight the importance of associative strategies and inhibition problems. The thesis presents strong evidence for stage 6 invisible displacement understanding, and thus representational thought, in chimpanzees and 2- year-old children, but suggests that dogs are capable of only stage 5 object permanence understanding.

<p> Five to eight year old children were subjects in this study which examined relationships among the Piagetian operations of class inclusion, transitivity and seriation. Behavioral and verbal measures were taken of the latter two and the stimuli varied along size and weight dimensions. Transitivity and seriation were related on the verbal level only. Behavioral measures showed less relationship across operations and dimensions than verbal measures and doubts were raised as to the adequacy of using behavioral measures alone in assessing operational understanding. Only one measure of class inclusion showed any relationship to transitivity and seriation. Independent tests revealed that while simultaneous combinativity may be a component ability of all these operations, successive combinativity definitely was not.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Este trabalho apresenta uma interpretação sobre a cooperação humana, particularmente sobre a cooperação na ação, no contexto da Epistemologia Genética e a emprega enquanto fundamento teórico para definir um conjunto de requisitos para agentes computacionais e sistemas multiagente. A cooperação na ação é a realização conjunta de operações concretas que se coordenam entre si. Uma operação concreta é aquela que se apóia na realidade, que é efetuada sobre objetos que podem ser manipulados, e sua origem é motora, perceptiva ou intuitiva. Para isso, este trabalho foi elaborado em três frentes distintas: os estudos, análises e discussões teóricas; o desenvolvimento de softwares; e a realização de experimentos práticos. Os estudos teóricos que fundamentaram a interpretação da cooperação centraram-se no terceiro período do desenvolvimento cognitivo. É nesta fase que ocorrem importantes construções cognitivas, com significativo progresso individual e social, em o comparando com os períodos anteriores. Nele, o indivíduo se torna capaz de realizar operações, tanto quando atua sozinho (operações sujeito/objeto), quanto com outros indivíduos (operações sujeito/sujeito), e a capacidade de operar é pré-requisito para a cooperação. Além disso, é a partir deste período que ele passa a construir sua escala de valores, paulatinamente e de maneira cada vez mais autônoma, através da qual faz avaliações e determina interesses.A interpretação da cooperação também se baseou em experimentos práticos realizados com pré-adolescentes. Para isso, se definiram, projetaram e implementaram diversos softwares, e, dentre eles o Jogo Cooperativo das Figuras Geométricas. Este jogo possibilita que dois ou três indivíduos joguem contra um agente computacional, utilizando cartas de um baralho constituído por um conjunto limitado de figuras geométricas, de cores e tamanhos variados, e que permite, em cada partida, que os indivíduos realizem operações conjuntas para vencer o agente computacional. Isto viabilizou o acompanhamento da prática da cooperação na ação entre 100 pré-adolescentes. Em especial se pôde acompanhar a realização de operações lógico-matemáticas e de valores por parte desses indivíduos. A partir desses estudos, experimentos e análises, foi possível redefinir, projetar e implementar cinco versões diferentes do Jogo Cooperativo das Figuras Geométricas para ser jogado por agentes computacionais, exclusivamente. Agentes computacionais são entidades virtuais ativas, inseridas em um ambiente, capazes de nele atuar considerando informações dele percebidas e/ou de outros agentes, e, a exemplo dos seres humanos, podem cooperar entre si. É neste contexto que as noções advindas da Epistemologia Genética contribuem na condução de estudos e pesquisas sobre agentes computacionais. Os 510 testes realizados permitiram analisar, em especial, a cooperação na ação entre esses agentes, aspectos relativos a seus valores, e elementos que influenciam em sua tomada de decisão. Esses mesmos testes contribuíram para validar o conjunto de Requisitos Piagetianos para uma Arquitetura para Agentes e Sistemas Multiagente proposto. Este trabalho também faz uma contribuição do ponto de vista da articulação entre a informática e a educação. Ele propõe princípios de um processo de modelagem de trabalhos em equipe, que incluem desde a proposição até o acompanhamento desses trabalhos. Trata-se de uma proposta que visa apoiar proponentes e executores de atividades realizadas por equipes. Esta proposição parte da área de sistemas multiagente tendo em vista o trabalho pedagógico desenvolvido por seres humanos. Estes princípios abrem possibilidades imediatas de pesquisa teórico-conceituais, computacionais e experimentais. / This work presents an interpretation about human cooperation, particularly about cooperation in action, in the context of Genetic Epistemology and uses it while theoretical basis to define a group of requirements for computational agents and multi-agent systems. The cooperation in the action is the joint accomplishment of concrete operations that are mutually coordinated. A concrete operation is an operation based on reality, made on objects that can be manipulated, and its origin is motive, perceptive or intuitive. For that, this work has been elaborated in three different fronts: the studies, analyses and theoretical discussions; the development of software; and the accomplishment of practical experiments. The theoretical studies that based the interpretation of the cooperation were centered in the third period of the cognitive development. It is in this phase that important cognitive constructions occur, with significant individual and social progress, when compared to the previous periods. On it, the individual becomes able to accomplish operations, both acting alone (subject/object operations), as with other individuals (subject/subject operations), and the capacity to operate is a prerequisite for the cooperation. Furthermore, it is starting from this period that it begins to build its scale of values, gradually and in a more and more autonomous way, through which it makes evaluations and determines interests. The interpretation of the cooperation has also been based on practical experiments accomplished with preadolescents. For that, several software packages, including the Geometric Figures Cooperative Game, have been defined, designed and implemented. This game allows two or three individuals to play against an agent, using cards of a deck constituted by a limited group of geometric figures of various colors and sizes, that allow, in each game, the individuals to accomplish joint operations to beat the agent. This made possible to follow the practice of the cooperation in the action among 100 preadolescents. Especially, it was possible to follow the logical-mathematical and valued operations by those preadolescents. From those studies, experiments and analyses, it was possible to redefine, design and implement five different versions of the Geometric Figures Cooperative Game to be played exclusively by agents. Computational agents are active virtual entities, inserted in an environment, capable of acting considering information perceived from the environment and/or from other agents and, as the human beings, they can cooperate. It is in this context that the notions coming from Genetic Epistemology contribute in the conduction of studies and researches on agents. The 510 accomplished tests allowed to analyze especially the cooperation in the action among those agents, aspects related to their values, and elements that influence its decision taking. The same tests contributed to validate the group of Piagetian Requirements for an Architecture for Agents and Multi-agentes Systems. This work also makes a contribution from the viewpoint of articulation between computer science and education. It proposes principles to a modelling process for work teams, that include from the proposition to the accompaniment of those works. It is a proposal that aims to support proposers and executioners of activities accomplished by teams. This proposition starts in the area of multi-agent systems, and aims the pedagogical work developed by human beings. These principles open immediate possibilities of theoreticalconceptual, computational and experimental research.

Este trabalho apresenta uma interpretação sobre a cooperação humana, particularmente sobre a cooperação na ação, no contexto da Epistemologia Genética e a emprega enquanto fundamento teórico para definir um conjunto de requisitos para agentes computacionais e sistemas multiagente. A cooperação na ação é a realização conjunta de operações concretas que se coordenam entre si. Uma operação concreta é aquela que se apóia na realidade, que é efetuada sobre objetos que podem ser manipulados, e sua origem é motora, perceptiva ou intuitiva. Para isso, este trabalho foi elaborado em três frentes distintas: os estudos, análises e discussões teóricas; o desenvolvimento de softwares; e a realização de experimentos práticos. Os estudos teóricos que fundamentaram a interpretação da cooperação centraram-se no terceiro período do desenvolvimento cognitivo. É nesta fase que ocorrem importantes construções cognitivas, com significativo progresso individual e social, em o comparando com os períodos anteriores. Nele, o indivíduo se torna capaz de realizar operações, tanto quando atua sozinho (operações sujeito/objeto), quanto com outros indivíduos (operações sujeito/sujeito), e a capacidade de operar é pré-requisito para a cooperação. Além disso, é a partir deste período que ele passa a construir sua escala de valores, paulatinamente e de maneira cada vez mais autônoma, através da qual faz avaliações e determina interesses.A interpretação da cooperação também se baseou em experimentos práticos realizados com pré-adolescentes. Para isso, se definiram, projetaram e implementaram diversos softwares, e, dentre eles o Jogo Cooperativo das Figuras Geométricas. Este jogo possibilita que dois ou três indivíduos joguem contra um agente computacional, utilizando cartas de um baralho constituído por um conjunto limitado de figuras geométricas, de cores e tamanhos variados, e que permite, em cada partida, que os indivíduos realizem operações conjuntas para vencer o agente computacional. Isto viabilizou o acompanhamento da prática da cooperação na ação entre 100 pré-adolescentes. Em especial se pôde acompanhar a realização de operações lógico-matemáticas e de valores por parte desses indivíduos. A partir desses estudos, experimentos e análises, foi possível redefinir, projetar e implementar cinco versões diferentes do Jogo Cooperativo das Figuras Geométricas para ser jogado por agentes computacionais, exclusivamente. Agentes computacionais são entidades virtuais ativas, inseridas em um ambiente, capazes de nele atuar considerando informações dele percebidas e/ou de outros agentes, e, a exemplo dos seres humanos, podem cooperar entre si. É neste contexto que as noções advindas da Epistemologia Genética contribuem na condução de estudos e pesquisas sobre agentes computacionais. Os 510 testes realizados permitiram analisar, em especial, a cooperação na ação entre esses agentes, aspectos relativos a seus valores, e elementos que influenciam em sua tomada de decisão. Esses mesmos testes contribuíram para validar o conjunto de Requisitos Piagetianos para uma Arquitetura para Agentes e Sistemas Multiagente proposto. Este trabalho também faz uma contribuição do ponto de vista da articulação entre a informática e a educação. Ele propõe princípios de um processo de modelagem de trabalhos em equipe, que incluem desde a proposição até o acompanhamento desses trabalhos. Trata-se de uma proposta que visa apoiar proponentes e executores de atividades realizadas por equipes. Esta proposição parte da área de sistemas multiagente tendo em vista o trabalho pedagógico desenvolvido por seres humanos. Estes princípios abrem possibilidades imediatas de pesquisa teórico-conceituais, computacionais e experimentais. / This work presents an interpretation about human cooperation, particularly about cooperation in action, in the context of Genetic Epistemology and uses it while theoretical basis to define a group of requirements for computational agents and multi-agent systems. The cooperation in the action is the joint accomplishment of concrete operations that are mutually coordinated. A concrete operation is an operation based on reality, made on objects that can be manipulated, and its origin is motive, perceptive or intuitive. For that, this work has been elaborated in three different fronts: the studies, analyses and theoretical discussions; the development of software; and the accomplishment of practical experiments. The theoretical studies that based the interpretation of the cooperation were centered in the third period of the cognitive development. It is in this phase that important cognitive constructions occur, with significant individual and social progress, when compared to the previous periods. On it, the individual becomes able to accomplish operations, both acting alone (subject/object operations), as with other individuals (subject/subject operations), and the capacity to operate is a prerequisite for the cooperation. Furthermore, it is starting from this period that it begins to build its scale of values, gradually and in a more and more autonomous way, through which it makes evaluations and determines interests. The interpretation of the cooperation has also been based on practical experiments accomplished with preadolescents. For that, several software packages, including the Geometric Figures Cooperative Game, have been defined, designed and implemented. This game allows two or three individuals to play against an agent, using cards of a deck constituted by a limited group of geometric figures of various colors and sizes, that allow, in each game, the individuals to accomplish joint operations to beat the agent. This made possible to follow the practice of the cooperation in the action among 100 preadolescents. Especially, it was possible to follow the logical-mathematical and valued operations by those preadolescents. From those studies, experiments and analyses, it was possible to redefine, design and implement five different versions of the Geometric Figures Cooperative Game to be played exclusively by agents. Computational agents are active virtual entities, inserted in an environment, capable of acting considering information perceived from the environment and/or from other agents and, as the human beings, they can cooperate. It is in this context that the notions coming from Genetic Epistemology contribute in the conduction of studies and researches on agents. The 510 accomplished tests allowed to analyze especially the cooperation in the action among those agents, aspects related to their values, and elements that influence its decision taking. The same tests contributed to validate the group of Piagetian Requirements for an Architecture for Agents and Multi-agentes Systems. This work also makes a contribution from the viewpoint of articulation between computer science and education. It proposes principles to a modelling process for work teams, that include from the proposition to the accompaniment of those works. It is a proposal that aims to support proposers and executioners of activities accomplished by teams. This proposition starts in the area of multi-agent systems, and aims the pedagogical work developed by human beings. These principles open immediate possibilities of theoreticalconceptual, computational and experimental research.

Este trabalho apresenta uma interpretação sobre a cooperação humana, particularmente sobre a cooperação na ação, no contexto da Epistemologia Genética e a emprega enquanto fundamento teórico para definir um conjunto de requisitos para agentes computacionais e sistemas multiagente. A cooperação na ação é a realização conjunta de operações concretas que se coordenam entre si. Uma operação concreta é aquela que se apóia na realidade, que é efetuada sobre objetos que podem ser manipulados, e sua origem é motora, perceptiva ou intuitiva. Para isso, este trabalho foi elaborado em três frentes distintas: os estudos, análises e discussões teóricas; o desenvolvimento de softwares; e a realização de experimentos práticos. Os estudos teóricos que fundamentaram a interpretação da cooperação centraram-se no terceiro período do desenvolvimento cognitivo. É nesta fase que ocorrem importantes construções cognitivas, com significativo progresso individual e social, em o comparando com os períodos anteriores. Nele, o indivíduo se torna capaz de realizar operações, tanto quando atua sozinho (operações sujeito/objeto), quanto com outros indivíduos (operações sujeito/sujeito), e a capacidade de operar é pré-requisito para a cooperação. Além disso, é a partir deste período que ele passa a construir sua escala de valores, paulatinamente e de maneira cada vez mais autônoma, através da qual faz avaliações e determina interesses.A interpretação da cooperação também se baseou em experimentos práticos realizados com pré-adolescentes. Para isso, se definiram, projetaram e implementaram diversos softwares, e, dentre eles o Jogo Cooperativo das Figuras Geométricas. Este jogo possibilita que dois ou três indivíduos joguem contra um agente computacional, utilizando cartas de um baralho constituído por um conjunto limitado de figuras geométricas, de cores e tamanhos variados, e que permite, em cada partida, que os indivíduos realizem operações conjuntas para vencer o agente computacional. Isto viabilizou o acompanhamento da prática da cooperação na ação entre 100 pré-adolescentes. Em especial se pôde acompanhar a realização de operações lógico-matemáticas e de valores por parte desses indivíduos. A partir desses estudos, experimentos e análises, foi possível redefinir, projetar e implementar cinco versões diferentes do Jogo Cooperativo das Figuras Geométricas para ser jogado por agentes computacionais, exclusivamente. Agentes computacionais são entidades virtuais ativas, inseridas em um ambiente, capazes de nele atuar considerando informações dele percebidas e/ou de outros agentes, e, a exemplo dos seres humanos, podem cooperar entre si. É neste contexto que as noções advindas da Epistemologia Genética contribuem na condução de estudos e pesquisas sobre agentes computacionais. Os 510 testes realizados permitiram analisar, em especial, a cooperação na ação entre esses agentes, aspectos relativos a seus valores, e elementos que influenciam em sua tomada de decisão. Esses mesmos testes contribuíram para validar o conjunto de Requisitos Piagetianos para uma Arquitetura para Agentes e Sistemas Multiagente proposto. Este trabalho também faz uma contribuição do ponto de vista da articulação entre a informática e a educação. Ele propõe princípios de um processo de modelagem de trabalhos em equipe, que incluem desde a proposição até o acompanhamento desses trabalhos. Trata-se de uma proposta que visa apoiar proponentes e executores de atividades realizadas por equipes. Esta proposição parte da área de sistemas multiagente tendo em vista o trabalho pedagógico desenvolvido por seres humanos. Estes princípios abrem possibilidades imediatas de pesquisa teórico-conceituais, computacionais e experimentais. / This work presents an interpretation about human cooperation, particularly about cooperation in action, in the context of Genetic Epistemology and uses it while theoretical basis to define a group of requirements for computational agents and multi-agent systems. The cooperation in the action is the joint accomplishment of concrete operations that are mutually coordinated. A concrete operation is an operation based on reality, made on objects that can be manipulated, and its origin is motive, perceptive or intuitive. For that, this work has been elaborated in three different fronts: the studies, analyses and theoretical discussions; the development of software; and the accomplishment of practical experiments. The theoretical studies that based the interpretation of the cooperation were centered in the third period of the cognitive development. It is in this phase that important cognitive constructions occur, with significant individual and social progress, when compared to the previous periods. On it, the individual becomes able to accomplish operations, both acting alone (subject/object operations), as with other individuals (subject/subject operations), and the capacity to operate is a prerequisite for the cooperation. Furthermore, it is starting from this period that it begins to build its scale of values, gradually and in a more and more autonomous way, through which it makes evaluations and determines interests. The interpretation of the cooperation has also been based on practical experiments accomplished with preadolescents. For that, several software packages, including the Geometric Figures Cooperative Game, have been defined, designed and implemented. This game allows two or three individuals to play against an agent, using cards of a deck constituted by a limited group of geometric figures of various colors and sizes, that allow, in each game, the individuals to accomplish joint operations to beat the agent. This made possible to follow the practice of the cooperation in the action among 100 preadolescents. Especially, it was possible to follow the logical-mathematical and valued operations by those preadolescents. From those studies, experiments and analyses, it was possible to redefine, design and implement five different versions of the Geometric Figures Cooperative Game to be played exclusively by agents. Computational agents are active virtual entities, inserted in an environment, capable of acting considering information perceived from the environment and/or from other agents and, as the human beings, they can cooperate. It is in this context that the notions coming from Genetic Epistemology contribute in the conduction of studies and researches on agents. The 510 accomplished tests allowed to analyze especially the cooperation in the action among those agents, aspects related to their values, and elements that influence its decision taking. The same tests contributed to validate the group of Piagetian Requirements for an Architecture for Agents and Multi-agentes Systems. This work also makes a contribution from the viewpoint of articulation between computer science and education. It proposes principles to a modelling process for work teams, that include from the proposition to the accompaniment of those works. It is a proposal that aims to support proposers and executioners of activities accomplished by teams. This proposition starts in the area of multi-agent systems, and aims the pedagogical work developed by human beings. These principles open immediate possibilities of theoreticalconceptual, computational and experimental research.

The Piagetian invisible displacement task has been used extensively in the filed of comparative cognition to measure representational capacity. In the task a desirable object is hidden beneath one of several hiding boxes via a displacement device, such as a small opaque container. Success on the task is deemed to require that the invisible trajectory of the object be mentally represented and its current location inferred. That is, the task is supposed to measure the ability to “think” of something that is occurring outside of direct perception. However, simple associative strategies may also lead to success in the absence of stringent control conditions. Among mammals, only great apes and domestic dogs have consistently performed above chance on the invisible displacement task. There is much converging evidence from other tasks to suggest that great apes have a capacity for representational thought. However, dogs have shown few signs of possessing the representational abilities generally though necessary to pass the task. Thus, in Chapter 2, four experiments investigated how dogs (n=35) find an object that has been invisibly displaced behind one of three opaque boxes under four control conditions devised to separate associative search strategies from performance based on mental representation. Strategies involving experimenter cue-use, search at the last or first box visited by the displacement device, and search at boxes adjacent to the displacement device were systematically controlled for. Dogs passed invisible displacement’s but only if the device used to displace the object was adjacent to the target box following displacements. These results suggest that the search behaviour of dogs was guided by simple associative rules rather than mental representation of past trajectory of the object. In contrast, Experiment 5 found that, on the same task, 18- and 24-moth-old children (n=21) showed no disparity between trials in which the displacement device was adjacent or non-adjacent to the target box. In Chapter 3, two chimpanzees were tested on single invisible displacements under the same four control conditions that were administered to dogs. In contract to dogs, chimpanzees showed no indication of utilizing these simple strategies, suggesting that their capacity to mentally represent single invisible displacements is comparable to that of 18- to 24-month-old children. Chapter 4 followed up reports of children and apes’ difficulty with double invisible displacements in which an object is hidden at two non-adjacent boxes in a linear array. Experiment 1 eliminated the possibility that chimpanzees’ previous poor performance was due to the hiding direction of the displacement device. Subjects failed double non-adjacent displacements, showing a tendency to select adjacent boxes. In Experiments 2 and 3, chimpanzees and 24-month-old children were tested on a new adaptation of the task involving four hiding boxes presented in a diamond-shaped array on a vertical plane. Both species performed above change on double invisible displacements using this format, suggesting that previous poor performance was due to a response bias or inhibition problem rather than a fundamental limitation in representational capacity. In Chapter 5, I conducted a pilot study examining the performance of siamangs and a spider monkey on single and double invisible displacements. Performance was mixed but provides some promising evidence that invisible displacements are within the capacity of siamangs. In contrast to siamangs and chimpanzees, but like dogs, the spider monkey showed a significant tendency to search at a box adjacent to the displacement device on simple invisible displacements. However, the spider monkey performed above chance on an impromptu test of single invisible displacements presented in the vertical format. Further study is needed to eliminate alternative associative strategies in these two species. In Chapter 6, I discuss the findings of the study with dogs, chimpanzees, 2-year-old children, siamangs, and a spider monkey on invisible displacement understanding. The results highlight the importance of associative strategies and inhibition problems. The thesis presents strong evidence of stage 6 invisible displacement understanding, and thus representational thought, in chimpanzees and 2-year-old children, but suggests that dogs are capable of only stage 5 objective permanence understanding.

No description available.

O TDAH é um fenômeno de entendimento complexo e muitas vezes controverso, possuindo sintomas que, em certo grau, estão presentes em crianças de diferentes idades e contextos, reforçando a necessidade de pensar essa manifestação a partir de teorias que reflitam sobre o desenvolvimento da criança. Em estudo anterior (Folquitto, 2009), investigou-se o desenvolvimento de crianças diagnosticadas com TDAH. Os resultados sugeriram indícios de defasagens no desenvolvimento, e não foram observadas diferenças significantes no desempenho entre grupos de crianças com TDAH, fazendo ou não uso de medicamentos, durante a aplicação de provas piagetianas. Procurou-se, na presente pesquisa, elaborar estratégias de intervenção que possibilitem às crianças avançar em seu desenvolvimento, a partir da construção de novos procedimentos que conduzirão, progressivamente, a estruturações mais avançadas de pensamento. A hipótese foi verificar se é possível proporcionar, com base na teoria piagetiana, experiências facilitadoras para a construção de capacidades cognitivas e afetivas que favoreçam o desenvolvimento dessas crianças, bem como investigar suas crenças espontâneas sobre o tempo. Foi conduzido um estudo longitudinal, durante 12 meses, com intervenções utilizando jogos e situações problema, estimulando reflexões, aquisição de conhecimentos significativos, favorecendo a construção de procedimentos e consciência das ações. A mediação realizada pelos profissionais foi a principal estratégia de intervenção adotada, com o intuito de mobilizar processos de autorregulação nas crianças. Participaram da pesquisa 18 crianças, com idades entre 7 a 12 anos. Anteriormente, e posteriormente à intervenção, os participantes e seus pais foram entrevistados, para avaliação do desenvolvimento das noções operatórias, medidas neuropsicológicas e sintomas de TDAH. Foram utilizados os seguintes instrumentos: SNAP-IV, WISC-III (subtestes Vocabulário, Cubos, Código, Dígitos e Procurar Símbolos), Figura de Rey, e as seguintes provas piagetianas: Conservação das quantidades discretas, Mudança de critério/dicotomia, Noção de ponto e contínuo, O relacionamento das perspectivas, Sucessão dos Acontecimentos Percebidos, Simultaneidade e O tempo da ação própria e a duração interior. Perguntou-se também às crianças o que era o tempo, solicitando exemplos. Os participantes foram subdivididos em um grupo intervenção, que participou das atividades propostas (n=13), e grupo comparação (n=5). Foi escolhida a estratégia de composição dos grupos a partir de uma amostra definida por conveniência. Para o grupo intervenção, houve diferença estatisticamente significativa, na comparação entre as avaliações anterior e posterior à intervenção, em relação aos sintomas, QI, velocidade de processamento e funções executivas. Comparando-se os dois momentos, houve diferença significativa para as respostas das provas piagetianas como um todo (p=0,011), O relacionamento das perspectivas (p=0,024) e Simultaneidade (p=0,023). O grupo comparação não apresentou diferença estatisticamente significativa no desempenho nas avaliações, para as medidas analisadas. Sobre as crenças espontâneas sobre o tempo, constatou-se que a maioria das crianças conceituou o tempo como vinculado à própria ação, desconsiderando aspectos como a sucessão dos movimentos e a sensação de passagem do tempo. Os resultados indicam que as intervenções com jogos, em grupo e mediadas por profissionais, podem mobilizar o desenvolvimento de crianças com TDAH, diminuindo sintomas e melhorando suas funções executivas, e, principalmente, tais resultados demonstram que o método de intervenção realizado, pautado na utilização de jogos mediada por profissionais, foi efetivo para mobilizar processos de autorregulação e tomada de consciência por parte dos participantes, que assim puderam avançar em seu desenvolvimento, construindo procedimentos de melhor qualidade e estruturações cognitivas e afetivas mais adaptadas. Portanto, os resultados obtidos podem ser interpretados como um indício de que propostas de intervenções em longo prazo, envolvendo situações problema, reflexões sobre as ações e tomada de consciência, são fundamentais para que crianças com TDAH possam ter processos de aprendizagem e desenvolvimento mais significativos / ADHD is a complex disorder, whose understanding is often controversial. ADHD symptoms, to some degree, are present in children with different ages and backgrounds, reinforcing the need to study this phenomenon from a theoretical perspective that considers the development of children. In a previous study (Folquitto, 2009), it was investigated the development of children diagnosed with ADHD. They were also evaluated according to whether use psycho stimulant medications or not. Comparing subgroups, no significant differences were observed, indicating that the use of these medications has not contributed sufficiently to favour the development of ADHD children. In the present research, we aimed at developing intervention strategies that could enable children to enhance development, constructing new procedures who lead, progressively, to more advanced structures of thinking. The hypothesis of this work was to investigate if it is possible to provide, based on the Piagetian theory, experiences that facilitate the construction of cognitive and affective capacities that would favour the development of these children, as well as to investigate their spontaneous beliefs about time. This is a longitudinal study, performing interventions with games and problem-solving situations that stimulate children to analyse their activities and to acquire meaningful knowledge, favouring the construction of new procedures, awareness of actions and cognitive structuring. Participants were 18 children, aged 7-12 years old. Previously, and after the intervention, participants and their parents were interviewed to assess the development of operational notions, neuropsychological measures of Executive Functions and ADHD symptoms. We used the following instruments: SNAP-IV, WISC-III´s subtests \"Vocabulary\", \"Block Design\", \"Coding\", \"Digit Span\" and \"Symbol Search\", Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF), and the Piagetian tasks Conservation of discrete quantities; Change of criteria - dichotomy; the tasks Three mountains, Succession of Events Perceived, The ideia of points and the ideia of continuity, Simultaneity, and The time of the action and the internal duration.Participants were divided into an experimental group, who took part in the intervention (n=13), and a control group (n=5), composed by ADHD children who did not take part in the intervention program. For the intervention group there were statistically significant differences when comparing the assessments before and after the intervention for symptoms, IQ, processing speed and executive functions. Comparing the two periods, there was significant difference in the responses of piagetian tasks as a whole (p=0.011), the Three mountains task (p=0.024) and Simultaneity (p=0.023). The comparison group showed no statistically significant difference in the performance evaluations for the measures analyzed. Regarding spontaneous beliefs about time, the majority of children conceptualized time as linked with action itself, not considering aspects like the succession of movements and sensation of time going by. Results indicate that interventions with games, mediated by professionals, can be useful tools to assist and enhance the development of children with ADHD, decreasing symptoms and improving executive functions. Specially, this results demonstrate that intervention method performed, based on use of games mediated by professionals, was effective in mobilizing self-regulation and awareness processes by participants. Thus, they were able to move forward in its development, building better procedures and affective and cognitive structuring more adapted. Results presented can be interpreted as an indication that long-term interventions, involving problem solving situations, reflections on the actions and awareness are fundamental to enable children with ADHD to have more meaningful learning processes and developing