CS Development Part 2 Flashcards
What is conservation
Conservation: the ability to understand
that the quantity of something remains
the same even though the appearance of
the object has changed
McGarrigle and Donaldsons naughty teddy design
laboratory setting was used where there was control over some of the extraneous variables. All procedures were standardised to ensure replicability and reliability of findings. Eighty (80) children between the ages of 4yrs and 6yrs old took part in the study.
Procedure of McGarrigle and Donaldsons design
The children were shown the two rows of counters and asked the question
The ‘naughty teddy’ appears and ‘accidently’ messes them up so one row is more spread out
They are then asked the same amount of counters on each row
Results of McGarrigle and Donaldsons study
41% gave correct answer when deliberately transformed (done by an adult)
68% gave correct answer when accidently transformed
Older children were better in both cases
Conclusion of McGarrigle and Donaldsons study
Piaget under-estimated children’s abilities – they can conserve below age 7. Piaget’s method for testing was flawed.
However this does support Piaget’s theory because the primary children did better than the nursery children
State one strength one McGarrigle and Donaldsons study
One strength of this study is that it challenges some of Piaget’s assumptions.
The research is important in making people question Piaget’s original work. The way Piaget designed his research appears to have confused young children. They are actually more able than he realised, but the way he questioned them didn’t make sense – why ask the same question twice unless something has changed?
This is an important part of the scientific process because researchers ideas should always be challenged and refined.
State 2 weakness of McGarrigle and Donaldsons study
One weakness is the primary age children all came from one school.
The reason for the primary school children doing better than the nursery children might have been due to differences in educational background. The primary school students may have all come from a more educated catchment area and so the children coped with the
task better due to more developed language skills.
This suggests that factors other than the age of the children may have influenced the results.
One weakness the children’s better performance in the accidental condition may be because they didn’t notice any change had taken place.
The children may have been more likely to say both rows were the same because they were distracted by the teddy and didn’t realise anything had changed.
The distraction of the teddy may have meant the children weren’t looking at the counters. It didn’t necessarily mean they were conserving.
What is egocentricity
Egocentricity (egocentrism): a child’s tendency to only be able to see the world from their own point of view
What is decentre
Decentre: the ability to see the world from the point of view of other people
What was the aim of Hughes policeman study
The study was conducted to see if children are able to see things from another person’s perspective at an earlier stage than Piaget’s theory of cognitive development suggested.
Study design of Hughes policeman doll study
Lab study
Thirty children between the ages of 3.5yrs and 5yrs took part in the study.
From Edinburgh
Method of Hughes Policeman doll study
children were shown a model with two intersecting walls that formed a cross with a policeman doll placed on the model. The child was asked to hide a “boy doll” and position it in such a way the policeman would not be able to see him. The policeman was placed in different positions on the model, and the child was then tasked with hiding the boy doll each time. If the child made mistakes, although rare, they were told of this and allowed to try again.
After some trials, the actual experiment was conducted but this time with two policeman dolls with the child tasked with placing the boy doll in such a way that neither police doll could see it. The experiment was conducted three times so that a different section of the grid was left as the only hiding place each time.
Results of Hughes policeman study
90% of the children were able to position the boy doll where 2 policemen could not ‘see’ him.
In more complex trials, using 5 or 6 sections, the 3 year olds had more trouble (60% correct) and
the 4 year olds had 90% success.
Conclusion of Hughes policeman study
Piaget underestimated younger children’s abilities When the task was related to the child’s everyday experience, they were able to see from another persons perspective.
However, it does support Piaget’s theory that children’s thinking changes with age.
State 2 Strengths of Hughes policeman doll study
One strength of this study is that it challenges some of Piaget’s assumptions.
The research is important in making people question Piaget’s
original work. The way Piaget designed his research appears to have confused young children. They are actually more able than he realised, but the way he questioned them didn’t make sense – the use of pictures may have been confusing.
This is an important part of the scientific process because
researchers ideas should always be challenged and refined.
One strength is the task used to test egocentrism made better sense to the children than Piaget’s version.
The policeman task was more similar to the kind of problem most children would encounter in everyday life than the 3 mountains task.
It is quite difficult to pick out the view of the mountains the doll would see but much easier to think about whether you could hide from someone. Hughes also made sure the children really did understand what they had to do – in the 3 mountains task the
children may have got it wrong because they did not understand the task.
This means the researcher can better assess the children’s real capabilities.
