Which is the correct match? How did you solve this problem?

psychlotron.org.uk Today’s session You are learning about...You are learning to... Piaget’s concrete operational stage Tests of transitive logic & class inclusion Compare and criticise ways of investigating children’s cognition

psychlotron.org.uk The Concrete Operational Stage Operations refer to logical thought processes. These include: – Conservation – Reversibility – Seriation – Transitivity – Class inclusion

psychlotron.org.uk Seriation and Transitivity Bob is taller than his sister Katie. She is taller than their other sister Rachel Put these children in order of height: – Bob  Katie  Rachel (seriation) Is Bob taller or shorter than Rachel? – Katie is taller than Rachel, Bob is taller than Katie therefore Bob is taller than Rachel (transitivity)

What do you think “concrete” means?

Which is the odd one out?

psychlotron.org.uk Odd one out How did you decide which was the odd one out? Why is it that we can have more than one correct answer to this problem?

psychlotron.org.uk Class Inclusion Piaget & Szeminska (1941) – 20 wooden beads: eighteen brown, two white

psychlotron.org.uk Three questions: 1)Are the beads all wooden? 2)Are there more brown beads or white beads? 3)Are there more brown beads or wooden beads? What sort of error do you think an 8-year old might make on this task? Why?

psychlotron.org.uk Class Inclusion: Piaget & Szeminska (1941) Questions 1 & 2 require an understanding of two separate classes of objects Question 3 requires an understanding of overlapping and super/subordinate classes (e.g. brown beads are also wooden beads)

Wooden beads Brown beadsWhite beads

Wooden beads Brown beads White beads Errors in this task suggests the child may still not be able to decentre; they can only think about one aspect of an object (in this case class) at a time

psychlotron.org.uk Donaldson (1978) Three black and one white cow, all lying down ‘sleeping’.

psychlotron.org.uk Donaldson (1978) 6 year-olds asked: 1.Are there more black cows or more cows? 2.Are there more black cows or more sleeping cows? Do you think there was a difference in the number of correct responses? Why (not?)

psychlotron.org.uk Question% correct responses ‘Black cows’ vs. ‘cows’25% ‘Black cows’ vs. ‘sleeping cows’ 48% What implication do these findings have for Piaget’s account of child development?

Why do children like playing with Lego?

psychlotron.org.uk Homework Look at the Toys R Us website ( and pick a toy that you think would be suitable for a child aged anywhere from 2-11www.toysrus.co.uk Design an advert for the toy, aimed at parents interested in pushing their children Make sure you explain what cognitive features the toy will help develop