Conservation of Amount vs. Weight:
A Critical Consideration of Piaget’s
Conservation Sequence
DANIELLE SCHUMER
CHILD GROWTH & DEVELOPMENT
RESEARCH STUDY
JEAN PIAGET (1896-1980)
 Born in Switzerland
 Published his first article at the




age of 10
Published over 60 books and
several hundred articles
studied natural sciences at the
University of Neuchâtel –
obtained his Ph.D
Successively or simultaneously,
Piaget occupied several chairs
In 1955, he created and
directed the International
Center for Genetic
Epistemology until his death
Piaget’s Four Stage Theory
1. SENSORIMOTOR (BIRTH TO ABOUT AGE 2)
CHILD LEARNS ABOUT SELF AND ENVIRONMENT THROUGH REFLEX AND
MOTOR ACTIONS. THOUGHT DERIVES FROM SENSATION AND MOVEMENT.
2. PRE-OPERATIONAL (ABOUT AGE 2 TO AGE 7)
CHILD BEGINS TO USE SYMBOLS TO REPRESENT OBJECTS AND REASON
SCIENTIFICALLY. ALSO CHILD IS ORIENTED TO THE PRESENT AND TO
HIS OR HER OWN IDEAS OR THOUGHTS.
CONSERVATION
3. CONCRETE OPERATIONAL (ABOUT AGE 7 TO AGE 11)
CHILD DEVELOPS AN ABILITY TO THINK ABSTRACTLY AND TO MAKE
RATIONAL JUDGMENTS ABOUT CONCRETE OR OBSERVABLE PHENOMENA.
ACCOMMODATION INCREASES.
4. FORMAL OPERATIONAL (ABOUT AGE 11 FORWARD)
PERSON NO LONGER REQUIRES CONCRETE OBJECTS TO MAKE RATIONAL
JUDGMENTS. CAPABLE OF HYPOTHETICAL AND DEDUCTIVE REASONING.
CONSERVATION =
 Ability to logically determine that a certain quantity
or substance will remain the same despite
adjustment of the container, shape, or apparent size
of the object.
 Ability to understand conservation tasks to maintain
the consistency of a substance despite perceived
changes.
 When this type of task is achieved, the child
demonstrates concrete operational capabilities.
Typical
Conservation Task
CONSERVATION ARGUMENTS
1.
IDENTITY ARGUMENT
“You just crushed it. You didn’t take away any.”
- Marianne, 8
2.
COMPENSATION ARGUMENT
“Because all you did was stick it up so its taller. The ball is still
more.”
- Matthew, 7.5
3.
INVERSION ARGUMENT
“Its still medium sized. When you squish [the hotdog] it turns
back into a ball.”
- Kayla, 8
3.
“TRANSFER” AFFECT
“Same as last time.” [referring back to amount task while
considering weight task]
- Sarah, 7.5
CONSERVATION SEQUENCE
“The child discovers the conservation of substance
at seven or eight, as is clear from his judgment of
changes in shape of a lump of clay. He discovers
the conservation of weight at nine or ten, and the
conservation of volume at eleven or twelve.”
Piaget, The Psychology of the Child, p. 99
SUBSTANCE
WEIGHT
VOLUME
Contradicting Research:
Sequence in Weight & Amount Conservation
White, Michel, Butcher, & Mebert (1978)
 PARTICIPANTS: 60 SIX-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN
 USED 3 DIFFERENT TASKS TO TEST BOTH
CONSERVATION OF AMOUNT & OF WEIGHT
 ALSO ALLOWED CHILDREN TO USE A SCALE TO VERIFY
THEIR WEIGHT ANSWERS
 11 SHOWED CONSERVATION OF WEIGHT WITHOUT
AMOUNT, NONE SHOWED CONSERVATION OF
AMOUNT WITHOUT WEIGHT
 RESEARCH CONTRADICTED PIAGET’S CONSERVATION
SEQUENCE THEORY
Contradicting Research:
Sequence in Weight & Amount Conservation
White, Michel, Butcher, & Mebert (1978)
CONCLUSION:
“THE RESULTS WERE INTERPRETED IN TERMS
OF A CONCEPTUAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE
PURE CONCEPT OF SUBSTANCE UNDERLYING
THE CHILD’S ABILITY TO CONSERVE VARIOUS
SUBSTANCE PROPERTIES AND THE CONCEPT OF
AMOUNT AS A PROPERTY OF SUBSTANCE”
 To test Piaget’s theory of the
OBJECTIVE
acquisition of varieties of
conservation in a set order, i.e.
substance, then weight, then
volume.
 To determine, through the
utilization of substance
conservation tasks and weight
conservation tasks, whether or
not a child acquires conservation
of these tasks in a specific order.
CRITICAL
QUESTIONS
•
When presented with both a
conservation of substance
task and a conservation of
weight task, will a child only
conserve weight once
conservation of substance
has been acquired?
•
Is it possible for a child to
acquire conservation of
weight before acquiring
conservation of substance?
HYPOTHESIS
Because weight is one facet of an
object which must be fully
understand before the substance
or object as a whole can be
understood, I believe some
children will acquire conservation
of weight before conservation of
substance.
SETTING OF
RESEARCH
 Holy Family of Nazareth – 2nd Grade
 10 Participants – 5 girls, 5 boys
 Diverse race, SES, and intelligence
 Range in Age: 7.5-8
 Research done one-on-one
Task 1: (traditional task)
TASKS
A series of questions
was asked as different
balls were flattened into
pancakes or rolled into
hotdogs.
Each student was asked
to state which had more
or if both had the same.
Task 2: (non-traditional task)
Equal Amount & Weight
Task 3: (non-traditional task)
Equal Weight &
Different Amount
Equal Amount &
Different Weight
DATA SHEET –
Amount Tasks
These Responses =
Conserver of
Traditional
Amount Tasks
These Responses =
Conserver of
Non-traditional
Amount Task
DATA SHEET –
Weight Tasks
These Responses =
Conserver of
Traditional
Weight Tasks
These Responses =
Conserver of
Non-traditional
Weight Task
KEY:
T = Traditional
NT = Non-Traditional
C = Conserver
X = Non-Conserver
RESULTS
8/10 – Conservers
of Amount
1/10 – Conservers
of Weight
AMOUNT
STUDENT
SEX
WEIGHT
AGE
T
NT
Overall
T
NT
Overall
Steven
M
7.5
C
C
C
C
X
X
Kayla
F
8
C
X
X
X
X
X
Sarah
F
7.5
C
C
C
X
X
X
Andrew
M
8
C
C
C
C
X
X
Freddie
M
8
C
C
C
X
X
X
Marianne
F
8
C
C
C
X
X
X
Tony
M
8
C
C
C
C
X
X
Matthew
M
7.5
C
C
C
X
C
X
Mikayla
F
7.5
X
X
X
X
X
X
Sarah S.
F
8
C
C
C
C
C
C
CONCLUSIONS
& LIMITATIONS
 Piaget’s theory seems to hold, such
that acquisition of conservation of
amount does precede acquisition of
conservation of weight
 Causes of possible discrepancy
between my findings and White,
Michel, Butcher, & Mebert’s
research study:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Their use of a balance/scale
The difference in participant age
The population size
Participants’ understanding of the terms
BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR PRESENTATION
Crain, W. (2005). Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory.
Theories of development: Concepts and applications (5th ed.)
(pp. 112-150). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Piaget, J. and B. Inhelder (1969). The Psychology of The Child.
(Helen Weaver, trans.) New York: Basic Books, Inc. (Original
work published in 1966).
White, K., Michel, G., Butcher, A., & Mebert, C. (1978).
SEQUENCE IN WEIGHT AND AMOUNT CONSERVATION.
Journal of Genetic Psychology, 133 (2), 241. Retrieved from
Academic Search Complete database.
Piaget picture.
http://www.psywww.com/intropsych/ch10_development/10piaget.jpg
Conservation task picture.
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/file.php/3048/ED209_1_006i.jpg
Biographical information. http://www.piaget.org/aboutPiaget.html