The Perry Stages of Cognitive Development

The Perry Stages were designed by William Perry, a psychologist and researcher from Harvard University's Graduate Dept. of Education. These stages, developed in the 60s and 70s, detail a college student's progression in their attitude towards knowledge. Provided is a "cheatsheet". Definitive guides that have been maintained for much longer can be found further down.

I. Dualism/Received Knowledge

There are clear cut right and wrong answers.

  1. Basic Duality - There is only one source and it has all the answers.
    • Task: To learn the right solution
  2. Full Dualism - There are many sources, but only one source is right.
    • Task: To ignore the wrong solution

II. Multiplicity/Subjective Knowledge

There are conflicting answers. You can't always trust external Authorities, so trust your gut.

  1. Early Multiplicity - The answer isn't readily apparent, but will eventually be found
    • Task: To figure out HOW to discover the answer(s)
  2. Late Multiplicity - Some things don't really have an answer yet… a. Rebellion - Everyone's answer is equally valid until proven wrong b. Playing the Game - Providing the expected answer is as valid as the right answer.

III. Relativism/Procedural Knowledge

Everything "depends" on the situation. We must learn to find out answers for ourselves. Devise a method of getting there.

  1. Contextual Relativism - The right answer varies depending on the situation.
    • Task: To evaluate all the possible answers
  2. Pre-Commitment - There are too many possible answers. You'll eventually have to stop researching and start deciding.
    • Task: To Decide

IV. Commitment/Constructed Knowledge

  1. Commitment - I've decided. Now I need to assert my decision.
    • Task: To follow through with the decision
  2. Challenges to Commitment - There will often be people that question this assertion.
    • Task: To defend the decision
  3. Post-Commitment - I'm comfortable with my beliefs, but I'm not afraid to consider others'.
    • Task: Continue to evaluate decision.

These are soft stages from which you can travel up and down, so there is always a possiblity of regression if they aren't maintained. Also, you might be a high Perry stage in one area, but a low stage in another. E.g. Post-commitment in psychology, but contextual relativism in programming. Applying analogs from psychology into programming helps me advance a little more efficiently.

Further information can be found in the following links:

  1. https://cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/perry-positions.html
  2. https://www.jmu.edu/geology/_files/willperry21.pdf
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20040613045732/https://www2.tntech.edu/honors/FacultyStaffandOfficial/handbook/9_models_of_growth_and_development.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20040613045732/https://www2.tntech.edu/honors/FacultyStaffandOfficial/handbook/9_models_of_growth_and_development.pdf

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