Human Growth and Development / Unit 7 HGD 0917 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Less Stage-Like Than Piaget Thought
Captions available
The idea
Cognitive development may be less stage-like than Piaget proposed: some children show concrete operations before seven, and demonstrations can bring conservation earlier.
In practice
Preschoolers passing a conservation task in McGarrigle and Donaldson's study, before Piaget's predicted age.
Where people slip
Active learning, such as building a model volcano, supports these gains; one study suggests some children now reach stages later than thirty years ago.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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