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Errors In Judgement
In the latter period of the pre-op stage children are heavily influenced by the appearance of objects.
Conservation
The characteristic errors in thought, especially egocentrism, begin to decline. However, children are still unable to perform mental operations- such as conservation. Conservation is the ability to understand that redistributing material does not affect its mass, number or volume
Conservation of Number Piaget counted out 2 sets of 6 beads, and put them into 2 parallel lines of equal length. After asking whether one row has more beads than the other or whether they are the same, and getting the expected answer, he spread one row out so that it is longer. The pre-op child is likely to respond that there are more in the longer row.
Most children said the same. The researchers then poured the water from one beaker into a third, taller, thinner beaker. The previous question was repeated. Results Most children under 7 years said that there was more water in the taller, thinner beaker. (They failed to conserve) In contrast, most children aged 7 and over answered that there was the same amount in both beakers. The researcher asked the child to explain their answer to be sure of understanding
Conclusion There must be a very significant change in cognitive ability at around 7 years on average. When the ability to conserve is achieved the child enters the stage of Concrete Operations.
Plenary
As a group Mind Map the Preoperational stage including both periods. Discuss the problems with the experiments within this stage and identify some problems with the designs.