Developmental- Samuel And Bryant

Question 0

Who were the participants of the study?

Answer 0

The participants of the study were 252 boys and girls aged between five and eight and half years. The samples were drawn from schools and playgroups In Devon.

Question 1

What was the aim of the experiment?

Answer 1

To challenge a previous psychologists (piagets) findings by altering his method in order to test the conservation of children

Question 2

What was the method that was used for the experiment?

Answer 2

The participants were divided into four separate groups, then three again to match each of the controlled conditions. Standard condition was where the children were asked about the state of the material before and after it had been changed. One-question-condition where the children were only asked one question about the objects post-transformation . Fixed array condition, which was a control condition. The child sees no transformation being made, only the objects in different states, and is then asked questions.

Question 3

What were the results of the experiment?

Answer 3

The one-question conditions produced fewer errors in the judgement of participants than either or fixed-array conditions. Overall, younger children made more errors than older children.

Question 4

What conclusion was drawn from the experiment?

Answer 4

Although older children are better at conserving number, mass and volume, the way in which children are asked to make judgements affects the quality of their judgements.

Question 5

What were the independent and dependent variable?

Answer 5

There were three independent variables: 
the age of the participants
the task conditions 
and the materials used 
The dependent variables are the results that came from these independent variables

Question 6

What type of design was used in this study?

Answer 6

An independent measures design was used, as different groups of children were used for each condition