Conservation of Mass with Liquid and Number in Children - Assignment Example

Running head: Data presentation of Conservation of mass, liquid and number in children Data presentation of Conservation of mass, liquid and number in children Name: Institution: Word count 1490 According to Hoffnung and his fellow writers in their book lifespan development (2010), we are made to understand that according to Jean Piaget who was a researcher, is that there are stages that are involved in the development of the child during the adolescence age that are cognitive. On the other hand, Piaget came up with a theory that elaborated that the children always undergo what he termed as concrete operation especially the one that are in the middle child hood. This means that these children begin to get informed and understand the things that surround them. This can be by observation and touch. Moreover, they get more involved in understanding how things co-relate. This theory is referred to as the concrete operation stage. It is here that they decided to use the water. In the experiment, they used water that was poured in a thin glass that is capable of holding 100mls. Then the water was later poured in another glass that was wider and smaller. Cognitive theory is the way a person’s development is associated with thinking. This process is also engaged by the way an individual interacts and understands the world around him (Chapman 1988). This development theory has four stages. The first stage is the sensory-motor that involves the children between the ages of 0-2years. During this stage the child has got the difficulty of differentiating the objects from himself or herself. At this stage is where the child will always rattle a lot of noise when he sees things. The second stage that involves the children between the ages of 2-7 is the pre-operational stage. At this stage, the child learns to have a language and begins to identify the existing objects through words and images. The third stage is the concrete optional. In this stage, the child starts to think logically on the events and objects. The children between the ages of 7-11 always experience this stage. Finally, from the age of 11 going up wards, the child is in the formal operation stage. In this stage, the child is in a position of to form hypothesis on objects systematically. Aim This experiment aim is to determine how the children’s understanding is related to age and their sex. Therefore, by using this experiment we will be determining if the children will be able to understand that the objects are not distorted if the shape of the object is transferred to another form. The most specific information that we are going to deal with is if the age difference is able to alter with the understanding of conserving mass, number and liquid. In addition, we are to understand if the sex of the child will interfere with the understanding capability. Method used The experiment will be based on the field investigation. This is because this process will enable us to understand and observe the children while they will be performing the task. On the other hand, we will be using a measured amount of liquid to determine the ability of the children as per their age in understanding that there is no change that can take place even if the shape of the liquid is changed or made to have another form. This ability is referred to as conservation (Hoffnug 2010). This experiment is basically to know the progression of the ability of cognitive from the thinking that is preoperational to the thinking that is concrete. In addition, this experiment will be able to let us determine if it is possible to know the thinking capability of the child by using the physical properties that are different. Moreover, the experiment will also enable us to know that the children will notice things differently compared to their ages. First in this experiment, we will use different children grouped in their ages to assess their ability of understanding conservation of different forms of mass, liquid and number. The participants (children) will be grouped in three groups. The first group will consist of children between the ages of 5 to 7, the other group comprises of children with the age 8 to 10, and then finally, the final group will be of the children between the ages of 11 to 13, as all the members of the group will participate. Materials The materials that are required for this experiment include 3 glasses: 2 of the glasses will be of the same size while the other one should physically have a different shape but have the capability of holding the same size of liquid. The second material is jug that will be used in measuring the liquid that will be poured into the measuring cup. Then finally, we will require a liquid, which in this experiment is tap water. Two balls of play dough of exactly equal size and kitchen scales. Eight coins of the same value, eg 20 cents Participant The first test will require us to have the children that have been divided into the three groups. This will be to determine if the age is a factor n determining the capability of conserving the measurement is mass, liquid and number. From this experiment, we will start by asking the questions to 166 children between the ages of 5 to 7, 120 children with the ages of 8 to 10 and 92 children between the ages 11 to 13 Procedure Conservation of liquid amount Subject (child) was presented with three glasses, two with the same size and the third one appear physically different but is capable of holding the same amount of water, a measuring jug was used to measure water to be poured into the glasses, subject was asked if the glasses have the same amount of water or dose one have more than the other. Conservation of mass Experimenter used play dough for this experiment, he started with displaying two balls of play dough, kitchen scales was used to weigh the play dough in front of the subject (child ) to demonstrate that they are equal, experimenter transformed one of the items and asked the child, are they both the same amount or is one more than the other. Conservation of number Subject (child) was provided with eight identical coins of 20 cents, at first coins were presented in two rows where equally adjusted, subject was asked if they were the same, the two coin rows were adjusted differently this time. The first one, the coins where adjusted very close to each other, the second one, coins were set apart from each other, subject was asked, are there still the same number? Dose one row has more than the other? Design Within subject design for the liquid, mass and number, used to determine if the children are able to conserve. Classification In all cases M = male; F = female Gender CLASSIFICATION MALE FEMALE OVERALL Conserving 155.4 % 160.66 % 316.06 % Non-conserving 38.5% 127.22 % 165.72 % Transitional 106.08 % 91.19 % 197.27 Results Hypothesis 1 From the result of experiment, it is easy to see age is a very essential determinant of conservation by the children. It is clear that as the children grow older, the rate of conservation go higher. It is also clear that as the children are young it is not easy for them to know that the capacity of water will not be altered by the change of shape or form. On the other hand, the understanding and conservation of children at the higher ages is very high. In this hypothesis older children conserving more than younger children as Paige’s finding which is children are conserving. Using sex to determine if the children are able to conserve Hypothesis 2 In this second experiment, the children in the same groups will be divided in to two groups based on their sex. This will be easy since we will use the same number of children but in the grouping the number will be different. The classification table shows the percentage of conserving, non-conserving and transitional result of male and female children, with the conservation males where 155.4 %, while females where 160.66 %, based on the study result, there is a different but it is not significant, so hypothesis 2 is not supporting Paige’s finding. Result From the result, it is discovered that sex of the child can determine how he or she understands and conserves. This is clear from the first group that the female at the young age are good conservers compared to their male counterparts. As the children grow, the rate of conserving and understanding in the male children is very high compared to the female. On the other hand, as the male grow older, they begin to understand and conserve more as illustrated in the table of the older children. There is no male child in the older group that was not able to conserve. Discussion The main aim of this paper was to determine whether the age difference is a determiner of the conservation by the children and on the other hand we wanted to determine if the sex of the children will also determine if they are able to conserve. From the result of the experiment, we can clearly state that Jean Piaget was right 100 years ago when he said that the two aspects are very essential in determining the conservation of the children. The other thing that is clear from the experiment is that even if the female child grows her rate of understanding and conserving is still not high compared to the male child at the same age. As a result of this we can say that we have achieved what we wanted to determine and that is that, the age of the child is important when it in regards to understanding and conserving. On the other hand, the sex of a person is important in understanding and conserving if is in relation to age. This means that if the female child is young, her reasoning capability is higher than that of the male. References Biggs, J. & K.Collis (1982). A system of evaluating learning outcomes: The SOLO Taxonomy. New York: Academic Press. Burton, L. (2007). An interactive approach to writing essays and research reports in psychology (2nd Ed.). Milton, QLD: John Wiley & Sons. Chapman, M. (1988). "Constructive Evolution: Origins and Development of Piaget’s Thought". New York: Cambridge University Press. Cole, M, et al. (2005). The Development of Children. New York: Worth Publishers. Findlay, B. M. (2008). How to write psychology laboratory reports and essays (5th ed.). Sydney: Prentice-Hall. Hoffnung et al., (2010). Lifespan development (1st Australasian ed.). Milton: John Wiley & Sons Australia. Read More