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A large portion of the defining characteristics of Concrete operational children also gain the
the stage can be understood in terms of the child ability to structure objects hierarchically, known as
overcoming the limits of stage two, known as the pre- classification. This includes the notion of class inclusion,
operational stage. The pre-operational child has a e.g. understanding an object being part of a subset
number of cognitive barriers which are subsequently included within a parent set, and is shown on Piaget's
broken down, and it is important to note that overcoming inclusion task, asking children to identify, out of a
these obstacles is not due to gradual improvement in number of brown and white wooden beads, whether
abilities the child already possesses. Rather the changes there were more brown beads or wooden beads (Piaget,
are genuine qualitative shifts, corresponding to new 1965).
abilities being acquired.
Seriation is another new ability gained during
The first, and most discussed, of these this stage, and refers to the child's ability to order objects
limitations is egocentrism. The pre-operational child has with respect to a common property. A simple example of
a “'self-centered' view of the world” (Smith, Cowie and this would be placing a number of sticks in order of
Blades, 2003, p. 399), meaning that she has difficulty height. An important new ability which develops from the
understanding that other people may see things interplay of both seriation and classification is that of
differently, and hence hold a differing point of view. numeration. Whilst pre-operational children are obviously
Piaget's classic test for egocentrism is the three capable of counting, it is only during the concrete
mountains task (Piaget and Inhelder, 1956), which operational stage that they become able to apply
concrete operational thinkers can complete successfully. mathematical operators, thanks to their abilities to order
things in terms of number (seriation) and to split
A second limitation, which is overcome in the numbers into sets and subsets (classification), enabling
concrete operational stage, is the perceptual domination more complex multiplication, division and so on.
of one aspect of a situation. Before the stage begins, the
child's perception of any situation or problem will be Finally, and also following the development of
dominated by one aspect; this is best illustrated by the seriation, is transitive inference. This is the name given
failure of pre-operational children to pass Piaget's to children's ability to compare two objects via an
conservation tasks (Piaget and Inhelder, 1974). intermediate object. So for instance, one stick could be
deemed to be longer than another by both being
individually compared to another (third) stick.
Prepared by:
4. Formal Operations Stage Group IV Members:
Castillo, Patricia A.
The last stage (usually 12-15 years of age and De Jesus, Joanna May D.
continues throughout adulthood), characterized by the Emnace, Rubelyn P.
ability to formulate hypotheses and systematically test Gumapos, Marilou
them to arrive at an answer to a problem, the individual Malana, Davie Luh Marie M.
in this stage is also able to think abstractly and to Sison, Amapola T.
understand the form or structure of a mathematical Viado, Danesa C.
problem.
IV – 3 BECEd
Another characteristic of the individual is their
ability to reason contrary to fact. That is, if they are given
a statement and asked to use it as the basis of an
argument they are capable of accomplishing the task. For
example, they can deal with the statement "what would
happen if snow were black".
5. Conservation Tasks
Conservation is the conceptualization that the
amount or quantity of a matter stays the same
regardless of any changes in an irrelevant dimension. It is
also something that had created considerable confusion
during earlier stages, and which means the amount or
quantity of matter remains the same, despite changes
made in its outward appearance. Thus, even though the
distribution of matter changes nonetheless conserves its
properties. The development from non-conservation to
conservation is a gradual one. As with all other changes
in cognitive structures (schemata), the change is largely
a function of the actions (cognitive and sensory-motor) of
the child. According to Piaget, conservation structures
cannot be induced through direct instruction (teaching)
or reinforcement techniques. Active experience is the
key.
a. Conservation of Number
Number is not changed despite the
rearrangement of objects.
b. Conservation of Length
The length of a string is unaffected by its shape
or its displacement.
c. Conservation of Liquid Amount
The amount of liquid is not changed by the
shape of its container.
d. Conservation of Substance (Solid Amount)
The amount of substance does not change by
changing its shape or by subdividing it.
e. Conservation of Area
The area covered by a given number of two-
dimensional objects is unaffected by their
arrangements.
f. Conservation of Weight
A clay balls weighs the same even when its
shape is elongated or flattened.
g. Conservation of Displacement
The volume of water that is displaced by an
object depends on the volume of the object and
is independent of weight, shape, or position of
the immersed object.