Lesson 4 - McGarrigle and Donaldson study

Question 1

What was the aim of the ‘naughty teddy’ experiment?

Answer 1

They thought that Piaget’s theory about when conservation develops- at 7-11 years- was inaccurate.

explained further-
The researchers wondered if Piaget’s results were due to the fact that the children SAW the counters being changed and therefore assumed that this deliberate change meant there actually was a change in the number of counters.

Question 2

What did McGarrigle and Donaldson find?

Answer 2

• Children chose correctly more often when the change was accidental (eg with the teddy)
• Plenty of nursery students chose correctly, so Piaget’s age range was inaccurate.
• However, the idea that the way children think changes as they age is still valid since the primary school students generally chose correctly a higher amount than nursery students.

Question 3

Describe the ‘naughty teddy’ experiment.

Answer 3

1. children were introduced to a ‘naughty teddy’
2. children were shown two rows of counters
3. the teddy would ‘jump out’ and rearrange the counters on one row to look smaller
4. before and after the transformation, the children were asked the same question while the researcher pointed to each row in turn: “Is there more here, or more here, or are they both the same?

Question 4

Explain how the ‘naughty teddy’ experiment criticises Piaget’s cognitive development theory.

Answer 4

Piaget underestimated what children can do because man of the nursery school children could conserve, unlike how Piaget said that children under 7 cannot conserve

Question 5

Explain how this study supports PIaget’s theory of cognitive development theory.

Answer 5

Although children under 7 were found the be able to conserve, primary school children did better overall in comparison to nursery school children- which supports the idea that children develop cognitively as they age.

Question 6

suggest weaknesses of the ‘naughty teddy’ experiment

Answer 6

• the primary school children were all from the same area, so differences between them and the nursery children could’ve been due to educational background and language skills.
• tested in an artificial environment- invalid and doesn’t represent the population
• over 30% of the children still couldn’t conserve even after the new experiment, so there must be other factors affecting conservation.
• the children could’ve been distracted, and didn’t notice a change- opting to stick with the answer they went with the first time around. This makes the results unreliable.

Question 7

Give one strength of the ‘naughty teddy experiment’

Answer 7

It challenged Piaget’s theory which is an important part of the scientific process.