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Piagetian Tasks

Administer the following tasks to 2 or more children individually. (This is much more useful if you select children of different ages, such as one 5-year-old and another 10-year-old.) Take notes about what you do. Pay special attention to the concepts of centering and reversibility. Reflect on what you discover and evaluate the usefulness of Piaget's theory of cognitive development.

1. Perspective Taking

Ask your subjects the following questions.

"Pretend that your ____________ (friend, teacher, aunt, uncle) is going to have a birthday, and you want to surprise him/her with a gift he/she will really like. How would you decide what kind of gift _______ would really like?"

Reflection: What cognitive strategies, insight, and social inference does each subject reveal in determining what gift would please a person? Does the subject consider age, gender, etc.?

2. Conservation of Volume

Have 2 identical containers (e.g., glasses) and a third which is either taller and slimmer or shorter and fatter. Have a pitcher of water (you may want to color it for emphasis).

Give the subject the similar containers. Say, "Please pour water into both so that each has exactly the same amount of water." "Do both have exactly the same amount of water?" "How do you know?"

Give the subject the third, different container. Say, "Now take one_____(e.g., glass) and pour it into this new one." "Now, do they both have the same amount of water?" "How do you know?" "Pour this new one back into the original one. Now is there the same amount of water?" "How do you know?"

Reflection: What similarities/differences did you note about the explanations?

3. Conservation of number

Have 12 pennies or poker chips. With the child and you seated at a table, lay out the items in 2 identical and parallel rows, equally spaced and identical in length.

Say,"Which row has more pennies, this one or this oneor are there the same number in each row?"

"Are you sure? How do you know? How many pennies are there in each row?"

Spread out one of the rows to about twice its length. Repeat the above questions. Then say, "But there must be more in this row because it looks longer."

"Now let's put the pennies into two piles."

While doing so secretly remove a penny from one pile.

"Are there still the same number of pennies in each pile? How do you know? Why don't you count them to be sure. Why are they different now?"

Reflection: What similarities/differences did you note about the explanations?

4. Conservation of mass

Have two balls of play dough. Say, "Do these two balls have the same amount of play dough?" If subject says no, say, "Why don't you make it so they both have the same amount of play dough." "Are you sure they have the same amount? How do you know?"

Then say, "Okay, now roll out one of these balls into a snake." Ask, "Now, do both have the same amount of play dough? How do you know?"

Say, "Now, make the snake back into a ball." "Do both balls have the same amount of play dough? How do you know?"

Reflection: What similarities/differences did you note about the explanations?

5. Prediction

Have some M&Ms and a brown paper lunch sack. With the subject, select 10 red M&Ms, 5 yellow M&Ms, and 2 blue M&Ms. Have the subject count them out with you. Put all 17 M&Ms into the sack. Say, "Now, if I put my hand into the sack and take out only 1 M&M, what color do you think it will be? Why?"

Reflection: What similarities/differences did you note about the explanations? Did some of the children's responses surprise you? Why? What do their errors tell you about their thinking? Do you think Piaget was correct about his theory of cognitive development?