Early Number "Conservation" and Experimenter Expectancy

The possible effect of E expectancy in the very early number "conservation" task was investigated. Mehler and Bever's (1967) experiment was replicated but 12 different Es were involved, half with an induced expectancy of supportive results and half nonsupportive. 168 children in 7 age...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChild development Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 984 - 987
Main Author Hunt, Trevor D.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Chicago, etc University of Chicago Press 01.12.1975
University of Chicago Press for the Society for Research in Child Development, etc
Subjects
Age groups
Brief Reports
Children
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Summary:The possible effect of E expectancy in the very early number "conservation" task was investigated. Mehler and Bever's (1967) experiment was replicated but 12 different Es were involved, half with an induced expectancy of supportive results and half nonsupportive. 168 children in 7 age groups from 2-4 to 4-7 were given 4 trials each, half with Smarties (M&Ms) and half with Plasticine pellets. Although little support was found for their high conservation scores by the youngest children, a significant result was obtained for expectancy.
ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
DOI:10.2307/1128409