ABSTRACT
The society into which children are born and in which they grow up is as much a continuous and living part of themselves as any other part of their psychology. The continuity of intelligence and bodies of knowledge across generations is commonly depicted as a transmission from parents to children; something similar is said in the case of conformity to society and its customs. Piaget has described growth of societal understanding from childhood to adulthood by focusing on the logical and physical world. One of the main advantages of a Piagetian perspective is the bridging of the gap between action and knowledge. In the area of social development the child's interests in and first steps toward conceptualization are no doubt limited to personal relating. The difficulty of identifying relatively clear developmental stages in societal role perception contrasts with stages in the understanding of money.
