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The Psychology of Literacy

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The psychology of literacy

In order to perform a research project, careful planning and consideration must be done prior to embarking on the actual project. There are many aspects of obtaining information and then breaking it down to meaningful data that can be used to prove a hypothesis. It was five years of field work that contributed to what has become known as "The Vai Project," a combination of surveys, ethnographies, interviews, and experiments conducted by Cole and Scribner in a small Liberian population in Africa. The goal of this project was to create a greater understanding of the psychology of literacy, that is, how different social situations affect, shape, or change human thought. This book is the story of their experiences and findings in the relation between cognition and culture. The purpose of this study was to observe and study a group of people in Africa (Liberia) and determine whether or not literacy shapes the human mind. And if so, does the "mastery of a written language affects not only the content of thought but also the process of thinking--how we classify, reason, remember”? (Scribner, 2008). What Cole and Scribner hoped to bring back was if there was anything in the Vai experience that could be used to improve the effectiveness of educational programs in other parts of Liberia or other parts of the world? Cole and Scribner were able to hone in on these questions by looking at the Vai population since Vai people have their own script. The script is taught at home, rather than school, allowing the researchers to separate school-based education from literacy. Although their language is widely used within the culture, the culture itself is a relatively small population within the country. This idea sparked questions about social and economic conditions that promote literacy activity. Why did they

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