Kristen Reiter

ED 399
Investigation #1
Due Monday, October 21
For this investigation on Piagets levels of cognitive development, I decided to observe
childrens level of development with the conservation of liquid and the conservation of number.
I conducted the experiment with one 7 year old boy, who I will call Keith and with two 5 year
old boys, who I will call Sam and Isaac. With all three boys, I conducted the conservation of
water experiment first, using two Gatorade bottles and a shallow, wide glass bowl. I asked the
boys to pour water from a separate bottle into each Gatorade bottle so that both bottles will have
the same amount of water. Next, I asked them to pour the water from one of the Gatorade bottles
into the bowl and I asked if they both still had the same amount of water or if one had more. For
the second experiment about conservation of number, I used 14 pennies that were lined up in two
rows of seven. I started out asking the boys if the rows had the same amount of pennies or if one
row had more. Then I organized the pennies from one row into a circle and again asked the boys
if each set had the same amount of pennies or if one had more. The boys mostly had similar
answers, but they went about the experiment in different ways.
I observed Keith first. When I asked him to pour the same amount of water into both
Gatorade bottles, he took a couple of tries to make the level even. When he said they were even,
one bottle actually had a bit more water in it, which may show that he does not pay that much
attention to detail. Once he poured one of the bottles of water into the bowl and I asked the
question, he said that the bowl had more water. Keith said, This shape (pointing to the bowl)
makes it have a little bit more. When I placed the row of pennies in front of Keith and asked

him if they had the same amount, or if one had more, he said can I count. He counted the
pennies and concluded that the rows had the same amount. When I arranged one row into a
circle and asked the question again, he said that the row had more pennies. Based on my
observation, I would say that Keith is in the Preoperational Stage of development. He did not yet
know the concept of conservation, where the amount or number of something remains the same
even if the arrangement or appearance is changed, as long as nothing is added or taken away.
Although, since he was able to identify that the water was the same, but in a different shaped
container, I would say that he is moving towards conservation.
Isaac participated in the experiment next. He started out by pouring the same amount of
water into both bottles. When he poured one bottle into the bowl and I asked if they had the
same amount of water now or if one had more, Isaac said the bottle has more because its
taller. After that, I placed the two rows of pennies in front of him and he knew that each row
had the same amount of pennies. When I arranged one row into a circle, he then said that the
row had more pennies. After observing Isaac, I would say that, like Keith, he is also in the
Preoperational Stage of development. Isaac also did not understand conservation. He was
having trouble with decentering, or focusing at more than one thing at a time, because he noticed
that the height of the bottle was greater, but did not see that the increased width of the bowl made
up for the greater height of the bottle.
Finally I observed Sam. Similar to Isaac, he started by pouring the same amount of water
into each Gatorade bottle. After he poured one bottle into the bowl, I asked him if they had the
same amount of water or if one had more. Sam answered that they both had the same amount of
water. Next I placed the pennies into two equal rows and he identified that they both had the
same number in each row. When I organized one row into a circle and asked if they still had the

same amount or if one had more, Sam answered, This one (pointing to the row) has more
because it is longer. Based on my observations, I would say that Sam is in between the
Preoperational and the Concrete-Operational Stages of development. He was able to determine
that the Gatorade bottle and the bowl had the same amount of water because he had an
understanding of compensation, when an apparent change in one direction can be compensated
by a change in another direction. This understanding of conservation, where the amount of water
stayed the same, and compensation would place Sam in the Concrete-Operational Stage.
However, in the experiment on the conservation of number, he was not able to apply the same
understanding of compensation. The change in shape of the number of pennies showed he
struggled with decentering, at least with numbers.
Keith and Isaac both seemed to be in the Preoperational Stage of development, which
would fit for their ages. Although Keith did show some understanding of identity, which would
mean he is progressing in that stage. Sam, on the other hand, was in between the Preoperational
and Concrete-Operational stages because he did have an understanding of conservation of liquid.
Since he is only 5 years old, this may show that he might be progressing faster through the stages
than the other two boys. Overall, with the conservation of liquid experiment, I noticed that each
boy had a different answer: Keith though the bowl had more water, Isaac thought the bottle had
more water, and Sam thought they both had the same amount of water. However, during the
conservation of number experiment, all three boys said that they row, rather than the circle, had
more pennies.