Another thing I found interesting in Chapter 9 was the idea
of Conservation and Logic which was developed by Piaget. Conservation basically
just mean the notion that the amount of something remains the same despite the
change in appearance. The book gave many examples of this such as when the same
amount of liquid is poured into a tall skinny glass and a shorter wider glass
and child will think that there is more liquid in the taller one. The children
think that there is more liquid in the taller one because it is taller and
higher than the shorter. The child being observed are between the ages of 6 and
7. They did many other experiments with things such as checkers, balls of clay,
and sticks. Piaget’s theory of conservation requires the child’s words not actions.
After doing brain scans, researchers saw that the child indicated they knew
something through the gestures they were giving off but couldn’t express it in
words. The video we had to watch the other week let me have a clear mental
image of what this was talking about.
I also find this concept of conservation interesting. i noticed on the video that the boy said it was more but when asked why, said "the glass is taller" which suggests that he understood it was the same amount of liquid and only looked like more. I wonder if the children were actually unsure of what the word "more" means rather than not understanding the concept. Kind of like when we're taking a vocabulary test and you have to pick the right definition to match the word. the correct answer is not on the test and there is no third option of "non of these definitions". Even though i think these tests were flawed in establishing the age where children understand conservation, i have seen evidence of young children not understanding conservation and used it in a few situations to make the milk or juice they had appear to be more. Even adults who understand the concept of conservation can be fooled by container shapes. This is a well-known fact in the food and cosmetic industry.
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