Summary

A cross-cultural study involving a basic sample of 117 societies was undertaken to test the hypothesis that disequilibrium facilitates cognitive development, and that a variety of different disequilibria even further ensures that effect. Disequilibrium was measured by child-rearing factors involving general frustration and deliberate instruction, and also by the presence of high gods in the society. Cognitive development was measured by the presence of games of strategy in the society. Each “indepedent” variable was related to the presence of games of strategy, and the cumulative effect of all factors was much stronger than any of them alone (χ² = 19.7, p < .001).