Introduction
The growth of Conservation of Numbers is a critical cognitive phase in a child’s development. It is a knowledge of a young child that a number does not alter with physical readjustment. According to research, once the concept of Conservation of Numbers gets acquired in young children, they use more complicated mathematical procedures (Pakpahan & Saragih, 2022). Before seven, kids mistakenly assume that the longer row contains more things. Numerous developmental research has reported on this perceptual mistake (Watanabe, 2019). Young children’s errors in conservation-of-number problems have been linked to their failure to properly comprehend or to their inability to inhibit a deceptive perceptual technique.
Experiment
This Conservation of Number experiment included six children, each of whom was approached individually. Each of them had first to decide whether the two rows with the same number of marbles in each correspondence were equal. Observations were made, and marbles in a single row were distributed while they watched, waiting for a fresh observation. Each was asked to identify the row with the most marbles for the second time, and observations were collected.
Results and Observation
Although all the children correctly recognized that two rows had the same number of marbles when arranged in one level, they incorrectly believed that the longer row had more marbles just because they were spread out. Furthermore, it was discovered that 4-7-year-olds’ assessments were independent, with no acknowledgment of invariance. Two of them just pointed to the row in front of them, saying it was more. Even after one row was stretched, four children stated that the stretched row contained more marbles than the row that was not expanded.
Explanation
Even though the children were similarly likely to assess either way on any one presentation, it was assumed that if they recognized conservation, their judgments of the transition would be consistent. In this experiment, the link between numbers and space arises early in cognitive growth. Young children frequently mistake the physical expanse of a collection of items for the number of items in that set (Asante & Hanson, 2018). In most visual environments, a larger fraction of space is covered as the number of things rises. Many empirical investigations show that not only are numbers and space intimately related on a behavioral stage, but they also stimulate overlapping cortical areas in the brain (Watanabe, 2019). Without a grasp of conservation, subsequent judgments would be distinct from one another.
The findings match Piaget’s claim that children in the preoperational stage do not have the cognitive development required to excel at conservation activities. Piaget argued that children perform poorly at conservation activities since their thinking is not yet guided by compensation, reversibility, and identity concepts (Asante & Hanson, 2018). To discover that the two rows of marbles with different lengths have a similar number of components, children should cognitively reverse the visual-spatial alteration that happens after the previous equivalence phase. As a result, children must keep the two rows of marbles of varying lengths in their working memory while cognitively imagining what they will look like once the marbles that are stretched out return to their initial position.
Conclusion
The findings of this experiment support Piaget’s observation of children’s capacity for conservation at the operational stage. It confirms that young children cannot differentiate between numbers and space since they have not yet developed the cognitive skills to pass the conservation of numbers test. Additionally, young children cannot use identity concepts and reverse cognition to be able to pass the conservation test. This study may imply that children aged 4 to 7 have no ability to conserve numbers in any way. Furthermore, Paget’s theory of cognitive development posits that with each successive structuring, processes or behaviors get more organized with advancing age.
References
Asante, J. N., & Hanson, R. (2018). Exploring Ghanaian children’s conservation of number.Journal of Information Technologies and Lifelong Learning. Web.
Pakpahan, F. H., & Saragih, M. (2022). Theory of cognitive development by Jean Piaget.Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2(2), 55-60. Web.
Watanabe, N. (2019). Attachment play related to Piaget’s conservation task with parents.International Journal of Psychological Studies, 11(2), 24-31. Web.