Piaget:Conservation of Number

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

Children in the concrete operational stage are more likely to be able to conserve number than children in the pre-operational stage of cognitive development.

Question 2

Hypothesis

Answer 2

Children in the concrete operational stage stage of cognitive development will be able to conserve number whereas children in the pre-operational stage will not.

Question 3

Research design

Answer 3

This was a natural experiment (as the IV, age, was naturally occurring) and could not be manipulated. It was also a cross-sectional study as it compares different children of different ages, so it is an independent group design.

Question 4

Sample

Answer 4

Piaget used a relatively small sample of children (the exact number is unknown) from Geneva including his own children.

Question 5

Materials

Answer 5

Counters.

Question 6

Procedure

Answer 6

-The child was shown two rows of counters of equal length arranged side by side
-The child was asked the question ‘is there the same number of counters in each row?’
-One row was then spread out to look longer and the child was asked the same question again.

Question 7

Control Variables

Answer 7

-The question asked
-Number of counters in each row
-How the counters were arranged fist time

Question 8

Findings

Answer 8

-3-4 year olds were typically found to state that the longer row had ‘more’
-Although some children in the late pre-operational stage (5-6 years) were able to answer the second question correct they could rarely provide a justification
-Many children in the concrete operational stage could recognise that the rows had the same number of counters and give a logical justification for this judgement

Question 9

Conclusion

Answer 9

Children in Piaget’s concrete operational stage of cognitive development (7-11 years) are more likely to be able to conserve number than children in the pre-operational stage (2-7 years)

Question 10

Criticism

Answer 10

-Asking the same question twice confused the children. Children may have thought that their first answer was wrong and so changed it. This is a form of demand characteristics and reduces the validity of the findings
-The nature of the task was unrealistic so lacked ecological validity. When other researchers carried out a similar experiment but showed a ‘naughty teddy’ messing up the rows children were more likely to pass the task. The suggests Piaget’s method might have interfered with the children’s understanding
-The sample was culturally biased as all children were from Switzerland, so the results cannot be generalised to other nation