All forms of learning do not develop in synchrony. It is important to draw out the elements of that definition if we are to understand the full development of competence in children. If it is cold or we are hungry we need to fashion shelter, clothing, food to solve the problem. If the sun rises every day, we fashion gods or myths or scientific theories about the universe in order to explain the phenomenon and bring it under some form of predictability and control. Knowledge is the universal set which may be regarded as both neutral and pluralistic, as though all knowledge were of equal worth and simply the possession of different groups in different life situations . . .
Parents are the key definers and transmitters of what is 'valued' knowledge.
This is a contextualised view of human intelligence which says we are not just biological but also cultural creatures, operating within a socio-political context, within a particular historical time and geographical space. The family is the earliest context in which we learn the limits of our control within physical and social constraints and opportunities. In sum, the nature of competence or intelligence lies in real skills or abilities that are applied in real situations to solve meaningful problems or to fashion actual products that are socially valued. It is not an abstract, cross-cultural or timeless entity, though elements of each intelligence will find expression in most cultures. To illustrate simply, the Eskimos have many words for snow in order to live safely in that environment.