DANIELLE SCHUMERCHILD GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT

RESEARCH STUDY

Conservation of Amount vs. Weight: A Critical Consideration of

Piaget’s Conservation Sequence

JEAN PIAGET (1896-1980)

Born in Switzerland Published his first article at

the age of 10 Published over 60 books and

several hundred articles studied natural sciences at

the University of Neuchâtel – obtained his Ph.D

Successively or simultaneously, Piaget occupied several chairs

In 1955, he created and directed the International Center for Genetic Epistemology until his death

1. SENSORIMOTOR (BIRTH TO ABOUT AGE 2)

CHILD LEARNS ABOUT SELF AND ENVIRONMENT THROUGH REFLEX AND MOTOR ACTIONS. THOUGHT DERIVES FROM SENSATION AND MOVEMENT.

2. PRE-OPERATIONAL (ABOUT AGE 2 TO AGE 7)

CHILD BEGINS TO USE SYMBOLS TO REPRESENT OBJECTS AND REASON SCIENTIFICALLY. ALSO CHILD IS ORIENTED TO THE PRESENT AND TO HIS OR HER OWN IDEAS OR THOUGHTS.

3. CONCRETE OPERATIONAL (ABOUT AGE 7 TO AGE 11)

CHILD DEVELOPS AN ABILITY TO THINK ABSTRACTLY AND TO MAKE RATIONAL JUDGMENTS ABOUT CONCRETE OR OBSERVABLE PHENOMENA. ACCOMMODATION INCREASES.

4. FORMAL OPERATIONAL (ABOUT AGE 11 FORWARD)

PERSON NO LONGER REQUIRES CONCRETE OBJECTS TO MAKE RATIONAL JUDGMENTS. CAPABLE OF HYPOTHETICAL AND DEDUCTIVE REASONING.

Piaget’s Four Stage Theory

CONSERVATION

CONSERVATION

CONSERVATION =

Ability to logically determine that a certain quantity or substance will remain the same despite adjustment of the container, shape, or apparent size of the object.

Ability to understand conservation tasks to maintain the consistency of a substance despite perceived changes.

When this type of task is achieved, the child demonstrates concrete operational capabilities.

Typical Conservation

Task

CONSERVATION ARGUMENTS

1. IDENTITY ARGUMENT“You just crushed it. You didn’t take away any.”

- Marianne, 8

2. COMPENSATION ARGUMENT“Because all you did was stick it up so its taller. The ball

is still more.” - Matthew, 7.5

3. INVERSION ARGUMENT“Its still medium sized. When you squish [the hotdog] it

turns back into a ball.” - Kayla, 8

3. “TRANSFER” AFFECT“Same as last time.” [referring back to amount task

while considering weight task]- Sarah, 7.5

CONSERVATION SEQUENCE

“The child discovers the conservation of substance at seven or eight, as is clear from his judgment of changes in shape of a lump of clay. He discovers the conservation of weight at nine or ten, and the conservation of volume at eleven or twelve.”

Piaget, The Psychology of the Child, p. 99

SUBSTANCE

WEIGHT VOLUME

PARTICIPANTS: 60 SIX-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN USED 3 DIFFERENT TASKS TO TEST BOTH CONSERVATION OF AMOUNT & OF WEIGHT ALSO ALLOWED CHILDREN TO USE A SCALE TO VERIFY THEIR WEIGHT ANSWERS 11 SHOWED CONSERVATION OF WEIGHT WITHOUT AMOUNT, NONE SHOWED CONSERVATION OF AMOUNT WITHOUT WEIGHT RESEARCH CONTRADICTED PIAGET’S CONSERVATION SEQUENCE THEORY

Contradicting Research:Sequence in Weight & Amount

ConservationWhite, Michel, Butcher, & Mebert (1978)

CONCLUSION:“THE RESULTS WERE INTERPRETED IN TERMS OF A CONCEPTUAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE PURE

CONCEPT OF SUBSTANCE UNDERLYING THE CHILD’S ABILITY TO CONSERVE VARIOUS

SUBSTANCE PROPERTIES AND THE CONCEPT OF AMOUNT AS A PROPERTY OF SUBSTANCE”

Contradicting Research:Sequence in Weight & Amount

ConservationWhite, Michel, Butcher, & Mebert (1978)

OBJECTIVE

To test Piaget’s theory of the acquisition of varieties of conservation in a set order, i.e. substance, then weight, then volume.

To determine, through the utilization of substance conservation tasks and weight conservation tasks, whether or not a child acquires conservation of these tasks in a specific order.

CRITICAL QUESTIONS

• When presented with both a conservation of substance task and a conservation of weight task, will a child only conserve weight once conservation of substance has been acquired?

• Is it possible for a child to acquire conservation of weight before acquiring conservation of substance?

HYPOTHESIS

Because weight is one facet of an object which must be fully

understand before the substance or object as a whole can be understood, I believe some children will acquire

conservation of weight before conservation of substance.

SETTING OF RESEARCH Holy Family of Nazareth – 2nd Grade

10 Participants – 5 girls, 5 boys

Diverse race, SES, and intelligence

Range in Age: 7.5-8

Research done one-on-one

Task 1: (traditional task)

Equal Amount & Weight

TASKS

A series of questions was asked as different balls were flattened into pancakes or rolled into hotdogs.

Each student was asked to state which had more or if both had the same.

Task 2: (non-traditional task)

Equal Weight & Different Amount

Task 3: (non-traditional task)

Equal Amount & Different Weight

DATA SHEET –Amount Tasks

These Responses =

Conserver of Traditional Amount Tasks

These Responses =

Conserver of Non-traditional Amount Task

DATA SHEET –Weight Tasks

These Responses =

Conserver of Traditional Weight Tasks

These Responses =

Conserver of Non-traditional Weight Task

RESULTS

KEY:T = TraditionalNT = Non-TraditionalC = Conserver X = Non-Conserver

KEY:T = TraditionalNT = Non-TraditionalC = Conserver X = Non-Conserver

8/10 – Conservers of Amount

8/10 – Conservers of Amount

1/10 – Conservers of Weight

1/10 – Conservers of Weight

CONCLUSIONS& LIMITATIONS

Piaget’s theory seems to hold, such that acquisition of conservation of amount does precede acquisition of conservation of weight

Causes of possible discrepancy between my findings and White, Michel, Butcher, & Mebert’s research study:1. Their use of a balance/scale

2. The difference in participant age

3. The population size

4. Participants’ understanding of the terms

BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR PRESENTATION

Crain, W. (2005). Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory. Theories of development: Concepts and applications (5th ed.) (pp. 112-150). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Piaget, J. and B. Inhelder (1969). The Psychology of The Child. (Helen Weaver, trans.) New York: Basic Books, Inc. (Original work published in 1966).

White, K., Michel, G., Butcher, A., & Mebert, C. (1978). SEQUENCE IN WEIGHT AND AMOUNT CONSERVATION. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 133 (2), 241. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Piaget picture. http://www.psywww.com/intropsych/ch10_development/10piaget.jpg

Conservation task picture. http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/file.php/3048/ED209_1_006i.jpg

Biographical information. http://www.piaget.org/aboutPiaget.html