Piaget’s Conservation Tasks Child Development Piaget’s Conservation Tasks

Remember Piaget’s Stages? Sensorimotor (0-2 years) Understand world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical action. Preoperational (2-7 years) Going beyond sensory information and representing the world with words and images. Concrete operational (7-11 years) Reasoning logically about events and classify objects in different sets. Formal operational (11- Adulthood) Reasoning in more abstract , and logical ways.

Developmental Milestones To reach the end of the sensorimotor stage a child must have object permanence. Objects must be seen as separate from the self and permanent. To reach the end of the preoperational stage a child must have matured in his or her use of symbols, language, and imagination. These children are unaware of CONSERVATION. Passing a test of conservation places a child in the concrete operational stage of development.

What is Conservation? The ability to see that quantity stays the same despite a change in container, shape, or apparent size. Or the ability to recognize what changes and what stays the same in an object. How can we measure this? Piaget devised a test and observed children’s mistakes with this test.

The tests We will be talking about 4 of the 7 tests Piaget devised. Liquid- everyone must do liquid as one of their case study tests. Mass Length Number Piaget took certain types of matter and manipulated them so that the matter was spatially different. Then he asked the children he was testing if the properties had changed or stayed the same.

Liquid The experimenter shows the child 2 identical glasses of coloured water. Child is asked if glasses contain the same amount of water. Liquid from one glass is then poured into a smaller, thinner container. A child is asked whether there is still the same amount. A child who is not at the concrete operational stage yet will say that the taller thinner container has more liquid in it now. They do not understand conservation.

Mass The experimenter shows the child two balls of play dough that are the same size. Child is asked if there is the same amount of play dough in each ball. One ball of play dough is rolled into a thinner longer ball. The child is asked whether the same amount of play dough is still in each ball. A child without conservation knowledge will say that the longer thinner ball contains more play dough now.

Length The experimenter takes two pencils that are the same length and puts them next to each other. The child is asked if the pencils are the same length. The experimenter moves the pencils so that they are not parallel. The child is asked again if the two pencils are still the same length. A child that says one is longer does not have the concept of conservation yet.

Number The experimenter takes 10 quarters and puts them in 2 parallel rows of 5. The child is asked if there are the same number of quarters in each row. The experimenter moves one row apart. The child is asked again if the rows contain the same number of quarters. A child that says the longer row has more quarters does not understand conservation yet.

The Concrete Operational Stage This stage is characterised by the appropriate use of logic. Once a child has conservation they can be placed in the concrete operational stage. Children in this stage pass the conservation tasks, but will not be able to think as abstractly as a child ready for algebra.

Lets look at these tests in action While you are observing think about who you are using as your case study. Imagine whether your case study will pass the tests you give him or her. Give some reasons for your predictions.