L6: C.D - Concrete Operational Stage

Question 1

What is the Concrete Operational Stage?

Answer 1

A stage in child development (ages 6-11) where children begin to think logically about concrete events, objects, and relationships.

Question 2

What is conservation in the Concrete Operational Stage?

Answer 2

Understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance.

Example: Water in short vs. tall glasses.

Question 3

What is required for conservation?

Answer 3

Reversible thinking.

Question 4

At what age do children develop conservation abilities for number?

Answer 4

6 years.

Question 5

At what age do children develop conservation abilities for length?

Answer 5

6-7 years.

Question 6

At what age do children develop conservation abilities for area?

Answer 6

7-8 years.

Question 7

At what age do children develop conservation abilities for weight?

Answer 7

8-10 years.

Question 8

At what age do children develop conservation abilities for volume?

Answer 8

11-12 years.

Question 9

What is transitive reasoning?

Answer 9

The ability to derive a relationship between two items not directly compared.

Example: If A > B and B > C, then A > C.

Question 10

What is deductive reasoning?

Answer 10

Using general rules to reach specific conclusions.

Example: All cats meow. Rex is a cat → Rex meows.

Question 11

When does deductive reasoning fully develop according to Piaget?

Answer 11

Around 10 years.

Question 12

What is counterfactual reasoning?

Answer 12

Imagining alternative outcomes to events that already happened.

Example: If Tot is a fish, and all fish live in trees, where does Tot live?

Question 13

What is inferential reasoning?

Answer 13

Making generalizations from observed patterns.

Question 14

What is the success rate of 5-year-olds in inferential reasoning tasks?

Answer 14

6% success.

Question 15

What is the success rate of 7-year-olds in inferential reasoning tasks?

Answer 15

52% success.

Question 16

What is the success rate of adults in inferential reasoning tasks?

Answer 16

92% success.

Question 18

What is Closs Inclusion?

Answer 18

Understanding that one colony can contain subcategories.

Example: ‘Are there more black beads or more beads?’

Question 19

How do preoperational children respond to Closs Inclusion?

Answer 19

They focus on parts and may say ‘More black beads.’

Question 20

How do concrete operational children respond to Closs Inclusion?

Answer 20

They understand the whole and may say ‘More beads.’

Question 21

What is Reversibility of Thinking?

Answer 21

The ability to mentally reverse changes.

Question 22

How do preoperational children struggle with reversibility?

Answer 22

They struggle to mentally reverse changes, such as pouring water back.

Question 23

How do concrete thinkers understand reversibility?

Answer 23

They understand that transformation processes can be undone.

Question 24

What prompts cognitive change according to conflict?

Answer 24

Contradictions create dis-equilibrium, prompting mental restructuring.

Question 25

Can conservation be taught?

Answer 25

Yes, as shown by Field (1981) where 3-4 year-olds improved significantly in conservation. ## Footnote 4-year-olds retained knowledge after 5 months.

Question 26

What are criticisms of Piaget's methodology?

Answer 26

Repeated questions can lead to confusion.

Question 27

What did Rose & Blank (1974) find regarding repeated questions?

Answer 27

Asking twice led to more wrong answers as kids thought their first answer was wrong.

Question 28

What misunderstanding did MeGarrigle & Donaldson (1975) identify?

Answer 28

Children misunderstood intentions when layouts changed, not the experimenter.

Question 29

What is the difference between embedded and disembedded thinking?

Answer 29

Young children are embedded thinkers, succeeding in familiar contexts but failing in abstract ones.

Question 30

How do older children and adults think?

Answer 30

They are disembedded thinkers who can reason in abstract, novel contexts.

Question 31

What did Carraher et al (1985) find about Brazilian child street vendors?

Answer 31

They were 18% accurate in real-life math and 37% on school-format problems. ## Footnote Context matters greatly.

Question 32

What are the implications of final takeaways on cognitive development?

Answer 32

Children can reason logically earlier than Piaget believed, and development is uneven.

Question 33

What influences performance in cognitive tasks?

Answer 33

Task framing, context, and instructions heavily influence performance.