Samuel and Bryant: Background and intro

Samuel and Bryant: Background and intro

1. background

   • Pre operational stage of development: 18 months-7 years and they fail to understand that whilst something can remain the same in size its appearance has changed (conservation)
   • Piagets study: the child is shown 2 identical quantities and asked if the two had the same amount or if one had more than the other (pre transformation question). the researcher then changes the appearance of one of the quantities in full view of the child and then asked the same question (post transformation question)
     • problem: because the child was asked the question twice they may believe that they have to change their answer.

2. aim: to test whether the methodology used in Piaget's conservation experiments lacked validity and that was the reason that children under 8 made errors rather than the true lack of understanding of conservation

3. research method: lab experiment with an independent measures design (different groups do different things)

   • 3 IV's: the three conditions (standard, one question and fixed array) the four age groups (5, 6, 7, 8 years) three kinds of materials (mass, volume and number)
   • DV: the number of errors made by each child on the conservation tasks

4. sample

   • 252 boys and girls between the ages of 5 and 8.5
   • from schools and playgroups in Crediton, Devon
   • opportunity sample that used an independent measures design