Piaget’s Conservation Study

Question 1

P - Aim

Answer 1

To find which stage of development children develop the ability to conserve number.

Question 2

P - Type

Answer 2

Lab experiment

Question 3

P - Design

Answer 3

Independent measures.

Question 4

P - Hypothesis

Answer 4

Children in the concrete operational stage would be able to conserve, but those in the pre-operational stage would not.

Question 5

P - Sample

Answer 5

Small group of school children from Geneva, Switzerland.

Question 6

P - IV

Answer 6

Age of the child (which stage of development they are in).

Question 7

P - DV

Answer 7

Whether they could conserve or not.

Question 8

P - Procedure

Answer 8

Each child was individually tested. They were shown two rows of counters and were asked if there were the same amount of counters in each row. Then, one row is spread out and the experimenter repeats the question.

Question 9

P - Results

Answer 9

3-4 year olds tended to say the spread out row had more counters. 5-6 year olds recognised the number of counters was constant but struggled to explain why. 7+ year olds understood the counters stayed a constant and could explain why.

Question 10

P - Conclusion

Answer 10

Children in the concrete operational stage could conserve.

Question 11

P - Criticisms

Answer 11

Repeating the same question may confuse the child, culturally biased and small sample, artificial environment, lacks construct validity as conservation can be measured in different ways.