Piagetian Tasks (Learning Log #4)

This was such a fun assignment. I chose do the Piagetian tasks with my three year old daughter. She was excited to help me with my homework and I was excited by the opportunity to involve her.

The first task I chose was to form play dough into balls of equal size. I then asked, do these balls have the same amount of clay? My daughter readily agreed that they did. At this point I smashed one of her beloved play dough balls and asked if they still had the same amount of clay or does one have more than the other? My daughter stated that smashed one had less then the ball, because it was short and not tall.

The second task that I did with my daughter was aligning two sticks of the same length in front of her. I then asked are these sticks the same length? My daughter stated that they were. After she stated that they were the same length, I moved one of the sticks to the right and left the other in place. I repeated the question. This time she stated that they were not the same length, because one stuck out further than the other.

The third task that I did revolved around equal amounts of water. I placed two short cups with equal amounts of water in front of her and asked if they contained the same amount of water? She agreed that they did. Then I poured the water from one of the short cups into a tall, thin cup and asked if they still contained the same amount of water? She stated that they did not, and when I asked which cup had more water she pointed to the tall thin cup.

These tasks show that my three year old daughter is in the preoperational stage of development. Her answers reflect lack of conservation. She is still at a stage where she confuses changes in appearance with changes in amount. (Combine this with her fierce sense of equality and you get one crazy household!)