First, describe a preoperational child's likely response to the conservation-of-liquid task
Then discuss how
centration, focus on static endpoints, and lack of reversibility are important limitations to children's
preoperational thinking during the conservation-of-liquid task.
What will be an ideal response?
Students should first articulate that in the conservation-of-liquid task, preoperational children typically state that a
taller container has more liquid than a shorter container, even though they initially watched the same amount of
liquid being measured into two identical containers. Then students should be able to describe the three cognitive
problems as they relate to this error:
Centration ? children tend to focus on the relative heights of the containers rather than on both height and width.
Focus on static endpoints ? children tend to focus on the "before" and "after" states rather than on the process or
transformation that occurred between these two states.
Lack of reversibility ? children typically cannot imagine what would happen if the process or transformation were
reversed (i.e., the water was poured back into its original container).
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