article

An investigation of the thought of primitive children with special reference to animism

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland62 • Published In 1932 • Pages: 173-190

By: Mead, Margaret.

Abstract
This paper is a brief preliminary report dealing with the problem of whether or not the thought of primitive children was characterized by '…animistic premise, anthropomorphic interpretation and faulty logic which had been recorded for civilized children' or was basically a process of the social environment. Forty-one Manus children served as subjects for this study and were observed by the author in their home settings, in play groups and at play within the author's own home. These observations were further supplemented by a collection of spontaneous drawings made by the children, by interpretations of ink-blots, and by stimuli in the form of questions introduced by the author which were designed to provoke animistic responses. The data collected by the above means, including the author's final analysis, comprise the remainder of the source. The field work for this project was undertaken among the Manus people during the winter of 1928-1929 where the author worked as a Fellow in the Social Science Research Council.
Subjects
Reviews and critiques
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Observation in research
Tests and schedules administered in the field
Personality development
Personality traits
Animism
Eschatology
Spirits and gods
culture
Manus
HRAF PubDate
2005
Region
Oceania
Sub Region
Melanesia
Document Type
article
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
John Beierle ; 1964
Field Date
1928-1929
Coverage Date
1928-1929
Coverage Place
Village of Peri, Manus Province, Papua New Guinea
Notes
Margaret Mead
Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-190)
LCCN
sf 80000548
LCSH
Manus (Papua New Guinea people)