Cognitive egocentrism in institutionalized adult males

Spatial egocentrism and its relationships to discrimination ability and communicative egocentrism were investigated in a sample of 80 adult males from a single institutional setting. The participants ranged in age from 33 to 83 years. As predicted, no significant age differences were obtained on any of the three dependent measures. However, significant effects of order of task presentation indicated that the experimental procedure influenced performance on the spatial and communicative egocentrism and discrimination tasks. The findings, which provide support for the Piagetian position of maintenance of operational level through the life-span, were discussed in terms of social and affective factors which may influence adult performance on cognitive tasks.