ABSTRACT
The belief that a set of universal abilities emerges after the second birthday and accelerates between 5 and 8 years is an old idea that can be found in essays written centuries earlier (White, 1996). Medieval Europeans regarded the seventh birthday as the end of the stage of infancy, and parents who are uncertain of their children’s exact ages first assign them chores at this age because children display behaviors signifying they are ready for new assignments (Orme, 2001). Parents now expect children to be able to care for young infants, tend animals, work in the field, inhibit inappropriate behavior, and conform to the mores of the community (Rogoff, 1996). Children growing up in a village in the Orinoco delta in Venezuela, for example, are first assigned the task of cooking, using a machete, harvesting coconuts, feeding large animals, or hunting, when they are between 6 and 8 years of age and rarely before that time (Ruddle, 1993). Both families and communities assume that 6-and 7-year-olds are now teachable, responsible, capable of inferring the minds of others, and understanding rational explanations. Hence most societies, ancient and modern, begin pedagogical training at this time.
