Conservation in Context
By Sarah Valdovinos
•Born August 9, 1896
•Died September 16, 1980
•After college, he assisted in the scoring of Binet's
intelligence tests, which led him to believe that
young children's cognitive processes are inherently
different from those of adults, and inspired him to
propose his global theory of cognitive
developmental stages.
•In 1964, Piaget was invited to serve as chief
consultant at two conferences at Cornell
University (March 11–13, 1964) and University of
California, Berkeley (March 16–18, 1964).
•Conservation: “the ability to keep in mind what stays
the same and what changes in an object after it has
changed aesthetically”
•Piaget’s age norms for conservation:
•Substance: 7-8
•Weight: 9-10
•Volume (I tested): 11-12
•Number (I tested): 8
•Assimilation: “the use of previous schema to deal with
a new object or situation”
•Accommodation: “when the use of previous schema
doesn’t fit and you must adjust your definition to deal
with the new object or situation”
Facts
•Object Permanence: “the ability to grasp the concept
that an object (or person) continues to exist, even
when it is out of sight”
•Based on their behavior in the comic below, would
you say that Calvin and/or Hobbes have object
permanence? Why or why not?
•Born August 31, 1870
•Died May 6, 1952
•At age 14, she began attending an all-
boys school, where she excelled in math
and science.
•She went on to college and became Italy’s
first woman physician.
•Observing her young patients showed
her that intrinsic intelligence was present
in all children, regardless of SES.
•Her experience led her to propose her
educational and developmental theories.
•Sensitive periods: “periods of time during which children
are particularly receptive to certain types of stimuli”
•During a sensitive period, the skill associated with that
period can be mastered without effort from the child
•After a sensitive period has passed, acquiring the skill
associated with that period takes a conscious effort from
the child
•Montessori’s sensitive periods have at least a 1½ year norm
age range, sometimes up to a 3½ year range, which aid in
their accuracy
•Piaget’s age norms for conservation would be more likely
to be a more accurate reflection of younger children’s’
abilities if he had used broader age brackets. His age
brackets are no more than a year (e.g., 7-8, 8, 11-12, etc.)
•Is there a Montessorian “sensitive period” for
Piagetian conservation?
•Did Piaget underestimate younger children?
•Was Piaget wrong to assign norm ages to his stages?
•Were the ages he assigned too high? Or have they
changed with the times?
•Would his norm ages have been more accurate if he
had made broader age brackets, like Montessori did
with her sensitive periods norm ages?
•I tested the children on 2 Piagetian conservation tasks
(number and volume)
•“There are many specific varieties of conservation
following this pattern (The Psychology of the Child, 99).”
•In his book, The Psychology of the Child ,Piaget said that
the age norm for the mastery of conservation of number is
8 years old.
•And he said that the age norm for the mastery of
conservation of volume is 11-12 years old.
•But did he underestimate younger children?
•I suspect that he did.
•A majority of the children observed will show mastery
of conservation tasks at earlier ages than Piaget’s
norms
•For all tasks and ages, girls will perform better than
boys
•Some of the first graders will perform better than the
third graders, regardless of gender
•There will not be a dramatic increase in conservation
ability from first to third grades, because, according to
Montessori and Piaget, age does not lead development
•Visited a traditional school only (was unable to visit a
Montessori school also)
•Small number of participants (37 total)
•Time limit
•Distractions
•Possible bias (one of the children was my 7-year-old sister,
who is in first grade)
•I used different wording from the script (The script asked,
“Which one has more pennies/water?” But I asked, “Which
one has a greater amount of pennies/water?”)
•More participants
•More ages
•Observe children at a Montessori school also
•Use the word “more” instead of “greater amount” to
see if that would change the results
•Talk to the teachers to get more information about
each child’s academic performance and behavioral
maturity
•First graders: 5 boys, 10 girls, ages 6-8 (3 6-yr-olds;
11 7-yr-olds; 1 8-yr-old)
•Third graders: 10 boys, 12 girls, ages 8-9 (11 8-yr-olds;
11 9-yr-olds)
First Grade Girls
100% can
conserve
All First Graders
0% cannot
conserve
100% can
conserve
0% cannot
conserve
First Grade Boys
100% can
conserve
0% cannot
conserve
First Grade Girls
40% can
conserve
All First Graders
60% cannot
conserve
40% can
conserve
60% cannot
conserve
First Grade Boys
40% can
conserve
60% cannot
conserve
Third Grade Girls
100% can
conserve
All Third Graders
0% cannot
conserve
95% can
conserve
5% cannot
conserve
Third Grade Boys
90% can
conserve
10% cannot
conserve
Third Grade Girls
58% can
conserve
All Third Graders
42% cannot
conserve
45% can
conserve
55% cannot
conserve
Third Grade Boys
30% can
conserve
70% cannot
conserve
•Only one third grader (an 8-year-old boy) could not conserve
number or volume
•The only 8-year-old in the first grade classroom was able to
conserve number and volume
•The child who could conserve was 4 months younger than the
child who could not
•Such children would be better served in a Montessori school
where the child who could conserve (the first-grader) would be
placed in a more advanced classroom than the child who could
not (the third-grader)
•Montessori would agree with Piaget that the rate of cognitive
development varies from child to child, so people should NOT
use the child’s age as in indication of what stage the child is in
•Age does not lead development
•The rate of cognitive development varies from child to
child, so people should NOT use the child’s age (or
grade) as in indication of what stage the child is in
•Piaget did underestimate younger children!
•Since a good amount of younger children could
conserve, the norm ages Piaget assigned to his stages
are either too high, or they’ve changed with the times
•In general, these children would be better served in a
Montessori school where children who could conserve
(e.g. the first-grader) would be placed in a more
advanced classroom than the children who could not
(e.g. the third-grader)
Boyle, Chris. "Review Of 'Montessori: The Science Behind The Genius (Rev. Ed.)'." Educational Psychology In Practice
24.2 (2008): 159-160. PsycINFO. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.
Chattin-McNichols, John. The Montessori Controversy. New York: Delmar Publishers, 1998. Print.
Crain, William. Theories of Development. 3rd Ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1992. Print.
Kayılı, Gökhan, and Ramazan Ari. "Examination Of The Effects Of The Montessori Method On Preschool Children's
Readiness To Primary Education." Kuram Ve Uygulamada Eğitim Bilimleri 11.4 (2011): 2104-2109. PsycINFO. Web. 30 Jan.
2013.
Lillard, Angeline Stole. Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print.
Montessori, Maria. The Montessori Method. New York: Random House, 1964. Print.
Moody, Michelle J., and Ginny Riga. "Montessori: Education For Life." Yes we can!: Improving urban schools through
innovative education reform. 127-143. Charlotte, NC US: IAP Information Age Publishing, 2011. PsycINFO. Web. 30 Jan.
2013.
Piaget, Jean and Barbel Inhelder. The Psychology of the Child. New York: Basic Books, 1969. Print.
Seefeldt, Carol. "Social And Emotional Adjustment Of First Grade Children With And Without Montessori Preschool
Experience." Child Study Journal 11.4 (1981): 231-246. PsycINFO. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.