Perceptual Contrast in a Test of Conservation of Length

On restructuring a Piagetian test of length conservation with the introduction of perceptual contrast, one obtains a much higher percentage of conserving subjects among preschool children than results from the standard test. It would appear that the Piagetian test leads the child to misunderstand th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inHuman development Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 141 - 145
Main Authors Parisi, Marinella, Sias, M. Assunta
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel, Switzerland S. Karger 01.01.1985
Subjects
Original Paper
Original Papers
Methodological limits
Perceptual contrast
Conservation of length
Piaget
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:On restructuring a Piagetian test of length conservation with the introduction of perceptual contrast, one obtains a much higher percentage of conserving subjects among preschool children than results from the standard test. It would appear that the Piagetian test leads the child to misunderstand the nature of the task he or she is required to perform and thus to an underestimate of his or her knowledge, while the revised test, by balancing the force of the transformations with an equal emphasis on equivalence and limiting the ambiguity of the terms used in the Piagetian test, appears to focus the child's attention on the single problem of length.
ISSN:0018-716X
1423-0054
DOI:10.1159/000272957