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DANIELLE SCHUMERCHILD GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT
RESEARCH STUDY
Conservation of Amount vs. Weight: A Critical Consideration of
Piaget’s Conservation Sequence
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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)
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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)
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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
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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
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DATA SHEET –Amount Tasks
These Responses =
Conserver of Traditional Amount Tasks
These Responses =
Conserver of Non-traditional Amount Task
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DATA SHEET –Weight Tasks
These Responses =
Conserver of Traditional Weight Tasks
These Responses =
Conserver of Non-traditional Weight Task
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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
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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
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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