development - piaget & inhelder (1956) 3 mountains task

Question 1

aims

Answer 1

• To study the perspectives of children
• investigate relationships between the child’s viewpoint
• and their perception of the viewpoint of others

Question 2

procedure
(sample)

Answer 2

100 participants took part between the ages of 4-12
21 aged between 4-6 years old
30 aged between 6-8 years old
33 aged between 8-9 years old
16 aged between 9-12 years old.

Question 3

procedure
(materials)

Answer 3

1. Lowest mountain was green & had a house on top. Had a path winding down.
   Next highest was brown & had a red cross on top. Had a stream coming down.
   The highest mountain was gray & had a snow-covered top.
2. 10 pictures of the 3 mountains model taken from different positions; features visible, colors were clear.
3. 3 pieces of board, shaped & coloured to match each mountain in the model of the three mountains, which they can move & arrange to represent the model.
4. Wooden doll, 3 cm high, no facial features.

Question 4

procedure
(what children were asked to do etc)

Answer 4

1. Asked to arrange the 3 cardboards (shaped and colored like the mountains) to represent their own viewpoint & the doll’s viewpoint (positioned by researcher) from each position around the model.

child is also asked to reconstruct their boards from one of their previous viewpoints; for example, when seated in position C they may be asked to recreate what they could see when they were in position A.

2. Select from the 10 pictures of the mountains to pick picture that represented their viewpoint from different positions. Also asked to choose picture the doll could see from different positions the doll was placed in.
3. Select a picture & place the doll in a position so that the doll’s view & the picture match.

Question 5

results
(pre-op stage: 4-6 y/o)

Answer 5

Arranged photos & cardboard to represent their own view instead of the dolls. Doll was placed anywhere or not moved. Weren’t able to place the doll in a position where the view matches a picture the child is shown.
were usually able to recollect and reproduce their previous viewpoints from memory.
Overall, egocentrism is shown.

Question 6

results
(concrete op stage: 7-12 y/o)

Answer 6

7 to 9 y/o - attempted to reflect doll’s pov but not consistent. Starts to understand that others see the model differently.

9 to 10 y/o - children can understand doll has a different view if in a position that’s different from their own.

Question 7

conclusion

Answer 7

Children up to 7 were egocentric (pre-operational)
Older children were non egocentric
The ‘three mountains’ task supports Piaget’s stages of development

Question 8

strengths

Answer 8

Qualitative data = rich in detail & depth = wrote about individual children.

Validity: Children were from Switzerland and familiar with mountain scenery so the task is argued to be a natural task.

Question 9

weaknesses

Answer 9

Too hard - Borke (1975) -repeated same experiment-
4y gave sesame st. character’s pov correct 93% of time
3y gave Grover’s viewpoint correctly 79% of time.

Lack of Generalisability: Piaget did not have a range of cultures. He only used Swiss children.