Piaget And Inhelder (three Mountain Task)

Question 1

Egocentrism

Answer 1

Seeing the world from your own point of view and not someone else’s

Question 2

Decantation

Answer 2

Developing the ability to look at multiple views or features of something rather than just one

Question 3

Aims

Answer 3

To look at the extent to which children of different ages were able to take the view of another person’s

To understand children’s overall system of putting together a number of different views of what they see

Question 4

Procedure overall

Answer 4

100 children tested

Children under 4 too young

Question 5

Procedure equipment

Answer 5

Model of three mountain made from paper and card
-model ranges from 12 to 30 cm height
-lowest-green mountain with house on top and a path winding around
-middle-brown with a red Cross on top
-highest-grey with snow covered top and stream falling down

10 Pictures of the mountain taken from different angles.

Three. Pieces of cardboard the same colour as the mountains.

A wooden doll

Question 6

Procedure
Way of questioning

Answer 6

-use the 3 cardboard shapes to show the position of the mountain based on what they and the doll can see based on where they were sat
-use the pictures too choose the one which shows what they and the doll could see based on where they were sat
-choose a picture from the 10 and sit the doll in a position where they can see what the picture shows

Question 7

Results
Pre-operational stage

Answer 7

• Participants between the ages of 4 and 6.5 years
  Tended to choose pictures and places cardboard to show their own view of the three mountains model even if asked to show the dolls view.
  And could not place the doll in a position where the view matches a picture the child is shown
• even tho the older children in this stage start to see that there are views others than there own, overall they show egocentrism

Question 8

Conclusion

Answer 8

Children up to about 7 years old are egocentric

Towards the end of the pre operational stage children are more able to think about someone else’s view-point

Older children can look at the three mountains in relation each other rather than three individual things

Older children are able to position their own view point amongst views of others and imagine of what others can see

Older children have the ability to co-ordinate different perspectives at the same time

Question 9

Evaluation
Strengths

Answer 9

They used experimental methods
Same model and questions
Reliability (repeating study with many children)

Question 10

Weaknesses

Answer 10

Evidence shoes stages are not as distinct as the term stage might suggest
Other more realistic studies didn’t get same results
(Borke, willingham)

Question 11

Borke (1975)

Answer 11

Changed Piaget and ingelders task making it more appropriate to younger children

Used the puppet Grover from Sesame Street and let children turn the model of mountains by using a turntable

Found a 3- year old could give puppet view point more than 73% of the time

4 year olds did this 93% of the rooms

Question 12

Willingham

Answer 12

Three mountain task found children of 18 months could non-egocentric behaviour

Children tasted crackers and Broccoli

Experimental show dislike of the cracker, taste and liking of the Broccoli

Experimental bowl of crackers, and one of Broccoli on table child past one bowl

14 month past daylight themselves, indicating egocentrism

18 month past Broccoli because that’s what they believe the experiment