Certainty and necessity in the understanding of Piagetian concepts.

Four experiments examined Piaget's (1971) claim that concepts such as conservation and transitivity are experienced as logically necessary truths and that such feelings of necessity constitute evidence for the underlying cognitive structures postulated in his theory. Exps I and II assessed feelings of certainty and necessity in 48 college students presented with a range of Piagetian tasks. Problems of logical certainty and empirical certainty were included for comparison. Although certainty was high for all of the Piagetian concepts, it was greatest for the developmentally early concepts. Results from the assessment of necessity were generally congruent with Piaget's claims. Ss tended to evaluate the Piagetian concepts as necessary truths, and their response to the Piagetian tasks was in most respects identical to their response to the logical tasks. In Exps III and IV, the procedures were extended to 101 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. Results suggest that children as young as 6 yrs of age appreciate the logical–empirical distinction and treat Piagetian concepts as necessary truths. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Necessity in conservation and nonconservation.

Conducted a study with 57 Ss (mean age, 6.78 yrs) to assess their conservation and transitivity of number, length, liquid amount, and weight. The conservation deduction argues that given A = B, B is transformed to B-sup-1, and that Ss somehow know that B-sup-1 = B as well as the concept of transitivity of equality Ss; thus should conclude that A must also equal B-sup-1, which is the conservation deduction. Results show that most Ss gave correct transitivity judgments, but only half gave correct justifications. In contrast, all the conservers gave good reasons. Overall conservation and transitivity correlated, and conservers were more likely to give good transitivity reasons than nonconservers. Nearly all conservers and about half the nonconservers saw their conservation judgments as necessary; thus, the relationships between conservation and necessity for number, length, amount, and weight were significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When two wrongs make a right: Promoting cognitive change by social conflict.

89 1st graders and 25 2nd graders were given information about conservation tasks that conflicted with their prior nonconservation judgments. Ss in a social interaction situation had higher conservation posttest scores than Ss who were given conflicting information in role-playing, imitation, and control conditions. The spontaneous generation of conservation assertions that occurred in the social interaction condition was related to significantly higher posttest scores. Results suggest that even incorrect information that conflicts with a prior but equally erroneous belief can stimulate cognitive growth. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Observational learning of quantity conservation and Piagetian generalization tasks.

20 1st graders who had scored 9 or less on a pretest of 8 Piagetian criterion tasks were divided into control and experimental groups. Experimental Ss underwent an observational learning phase in which a model correctly performed the 1st task used in the pretest, giving correct conservation judgments supported by justifications alternately based on identity, compensation, or reversibility considerations. All Ss were given the same 8 Piagetian tasks used in the pretest on immediate, 1-wk, and 3-mo delayed posttests. The experimental group generalized conservation to several tasks. One category of Ss behaved as rote learners and maintained conservation only for tasks closely similar to the modeled task and on immediate and 1-wk delayed posttest; a 2nd group of genuine conservers progressively generalized the conservation rule to more difficult tasks. The control group remained nonconserving throughout. Results are explained with reference to the Piagetian concept of sequential equilibration. The social experience of observation appeared to activate a cognitive restructuring of the Ss' mental operations. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reasoning about certainty and uncertainty in concrete, causal, and propositional contexts.

Examined children's comprehension of certainty and uncertainty within the context of concrete and propositional reasoning tasks. 69 1st, 3rd, and 5th graders were given G. Pieraut-LeBonniec's (1980) box task and a multisufficient causality task to assess reasoning about certainty and uncertainty in concrete contexts. Ss were also given conditional syllogisms to assess this ability in a propositional context. Half of the Ss at each grade were given contramanded syllogism task statements intended to block erroneous conversational inferences made about these conditional statements. Results indicate that there were no developmental differences in reasoning about concrete certainty, but significant improvement occurred with age in reasoning about concrete uncertainty. On syllogisms, only the 5th graders benefited from contramanding and thus demonstrated an understanding of propositional uncertainty. Correlational and error analyses showed that the discrimination between certainty and uncertainty was mastered in concrete contexts prior to the time when this discrimination occurred in propositional contexts. It is concluded that reasoning about concrete certainty and uncertainty requires a different competence than that required for reasoning about propositional certainty and uncertainty. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of age, skill, and performance feedback on children's judgments of confidence.

We examined children's judgments of confidence following performance on a cognitive task as a function of the children's age and skill and the presence or absence of feedback regarding performance. Second and third graders (n?=?75) and fifth and sixth graders (n?=?79) estimated the numerosity of large numbers of dots, made ratings of confidence concerning their answers, and were assessed on a timed task of counting in multiples. For older children, regardless of skill level, feedback was associated with "calibration," that is, a positive relation between estimation accuracy and confidence. For younger children, on the other hand, feedback was associated with such a relation only if the children were relatively skillful on the counting task. Results suggest that domain-specific knowledge, in conjunction with objective feedback following task performance, may help young children compensate for developmental factors that typically are associated with an unrealistically high degree of confidence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Area and volume conservation among the elderly: Assessment and training.

Conducted 2 studies to examine whether the elderly maintain the competence to adequately solve problems of logical thinking. In the 1st study the performance of 60 noninstitutionalized middle-class elderly females was assessed on area and volume conservation tasks. On overall performance only 33.3% of the Ss were classified as conservers. In the 2nd study a training paradigm was used to determine whether simple verbal feedback activated the strategies required for adequate performance on conservation tasks. 22 Ss who failed at least 2 conservation tasks in the assessment study were administered a 20-trial training procedure. Half of these Ss received simple verbal feedback following each response, while half received no feedback. Results on an immediate posttest indicated that the feedback group performed significantly better than the control group on the near transfer posttest task and on the majority of far transfer tasks. The results are discussed in terms of a distinction between competence and performance. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Certainty of judgment and resistance to social influence.

The present note presents evidence on the importance of certainty, obtained under conditions where there are marked individual differences in reactions to a given stimulus and associated differences in certainty of judgment. The method involved the use of phenylthiourea (also known as phenylthiocarbamide), referred to as PTU. The subjects, Yale University upperclassmen, were told that we were trying to find out "whether there are absolute values for these tastes or whether there are individual differences in ratings of them." He was then given a form, asked to taste Label A, and instructed to give it a rating of 5 (average) on the scale of pleasantness. He was then asked to taste B and C, and to rate each one in relation to A. After rating B, he was asked to rate his certainty that B should be given the pleasantness rating he had given it. A similar procedure was followed for C. On the basis of these private judgments, the Ss were scheduled in 30 three-man groups, half composed of one taster and two nontasters and half, of two tasters and one nontaster. The instructions were similar to those used earlier, except that certainty ratings were not requested and the Ss were asked to announce their ratings publicly, each one first giving his rating of B, and then of C. Each time, the majority persons, whether tasters or nontasters, were asked to announce their ratings first. When it came his turn on B, the minority person usually found that the others had given ratings similar to his private ones. But on C, he found that their ratings were markedly different from his own evaluation. It was found that the effects of majority opinion were markedly different depending upon whether the minority persons were tasters or nontasters of PTU. The data suggest that this asymmetric effect, whereby nontasters are more susceptible to majority influence, may be attributable to the stronger reactions tasters have to PTU and the resulting greater certainty they have about their judgments of the substance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Formal operational reasoning and the primacy effect in impression formation.

Investigated the relationship between level of cognitive development and the primacy effect in impression formation. 48 concrete operational and formal operational 8th graders were presented with blocks of information (photographs) about a target individual and were asked to write an impression. When the information was presented in 2 internally consistent but mutually contradictory blocks, impressions produced by concrete operational Ss contained a significantly greater proportion of evaluative statements in the same evaluative direction as the 1st block of information presented (the primacy effect) than did impressions produced by formal operational Ss. Results support the argument that the processing and organizing abilities measured in "objective" cognitive tasks are also used in social cognition. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Depression, interpersonal standard setting, and judgments of self-efficacy.

Investigated the relationship between standard setting and judgments of self-efficacy in the domain of interpersonal functioning for depressed and nondepressed Ss. Consistent with a self-control model of depression, a large discrepancy between personal standards and judgments of personal efficacy for performance was postulated to be related to depression. Undergraduate students who scored above 13 on 2 administrations of the Beck Depression Inventory composed the depressed group. 39 depressed and 39 nondepressed students rated their minimal standards for adequate interpersonal performance, its importance to them, and their judgments of self-efficacy for the same tasks, using the Interpersonal Concerns Questionnaire. Depressed Ss showed a larger discrepancy between strength of interpersonal standards and strength of self-efficacy than did normal Ss. Depressed Ss expressed a lower strength of self-efficacy than did nondepressed Ss, but they did not differ on their interpersonal standards. Importance and the strength for standards are consistent with recent extensions of P. M. Lewinsohn's (1974) model of depression, which suggests that disruptions in self-evaluation are related to lowered judgments of self-efficacy for depressed Ss. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Categorization as a preferred memory strategy: Developmental changes during elementary school.

20 2nd, 20 4th, and 20 6th graders (a) judged the relative effectiveness of 4 memory strategies (looking, naming, rehearsing, and categorizing) and (b) studied and recalled sets of stimuli. The order of tasks was counterbalanced within grade. Ss in all grades chose rehearsal and categorization over looking or naming. Second graders in both conditions and 4th graders who did the memory tasks first judged rehearsal and categorization as equally effective. Fourth graders who made strategy judgments first and 6th graders in both conditions significantly preferred categorization over rehearsal. On the memory task, 4th graders who judged strategy effectiveness prior to doing the memory tasks recalled more than those doing the memory task first. There was no difference due to condition for the other 2 grades. Degree of strategic awareness was related to recall only for children who made the strategy judgment prior to doing the memory tasks. Findings illustrate developmental changes in awareness of the relative benefits of categorization over rehearsal during elementary school and suggest that performance on a memory task may be affected by the degree to which appropriate metamemorial awareness is "activated." (13 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of efficient arithmetic computation.

The developing efficiency of simple arithmetic computations using dual reaction-time (RT) tasks was studied. The primary task of true–false verification of 2-term addition problems and the secondary task of auditory probe detection provided measures of the processing demands of encoding, computation, comparison, decision, and response stages of the addition process. Developmental shifts in the efficiency with which 2nd, 4th, and 6th graders and college adults computed answers to these problems were found. The dual task demands exceeded the processing resources of 2nd graders throughout all stages of the addition process; increasing processing efficiency was demonstrated by 4th and 6th graders, and for college Ss some information-processing costs were associated with both early and later stages of the addition process. These costs were attributable to resources other than those required by general alertness factors and structural demands of the dual tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student perceptions of differential teacher treatment in open and traditional classrooms.

234 4th–6th graders from 8 open and 8 traditional classrooms completed the Teacher Treatment Inventory, rating the frequency with which 44 teacher behaviors were accorded 1 of 4 hypothetical target students. Nominations by principals and teacher self-ratings on the Walberg-Thomas Open Education Teacher Questionnaire were used to operationally define classroom structure. Ss described low achievers (LAs) as the recipients of more negative feedback, teacher direction, schoolwork, and rule orientation than high achievers (HAs). HAs were perceived as receiving higher expectations and more opportunity and choice than LAs. These treatment differences were perceived regardless of sex of student rated. The hypothesis that Ss in open classrooms would perceive less differential treatment of HAs and LAs than Ss in traditional classrooms was not supported. Although unrelated to the open or traditional orientation of teachers, classrooms did differ in the extent of differential treatment perceived by Ss. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading, memory, and metacognition.

Investigated relations among reading skills, metareading (knowledge about reading), memory, and metamemory (knowledge about memory) as they relate to reading ability (good vs poor readers), operativity, and grade level. 40 2nd graders (aged 7.25–9.83 yrs) and 40 4th graders (aged 9.42–22.00 yrs) were interviewed to assess the reading–memory variables. Significant but low correlations were obtained between metareading and reading, metamemory and memory, metareading and metamemory, and reading and memory. Significant effects of operativity were revealed on all dependent measures. Operative Ss had higher scores on the metareading and metamemory tasks, read at higher levels, and remembered more items on the memory tasks than did nonoperative Ss. Effects of grade level were revealed on most dependent measures. Fourth-grade Ss received higher scores on the metareading and metamemory tasks and read at higher levels than did 2nd-grade Ss. An interaction between operativity and grade level revealed that operative 2nd-grade and both groups of 4th-grade Ss made fewer total reading errors than did nonoperative 2nd-grade Ss. The effects of operativity, experience, and metacognition on reading and memory skills are discussed. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Consensus at zero acquaintance: Replication, behavioral cues, and stability.

That observers tend to agree in their ratings of a target even if they have never interacted with that target has been called consensus at zero acquaintance. The basic finding that consensus is highest for judgments concerning a target's degree of extraversion (EV) and somewhat weaker for judgments of conscientiousness is replicated. Several potential observable cues that might be used by judges when rating targets are examined. The finding that ratings of physical attractiveness correlate with judgments of EV is replicated. In Study 1, rapid body movements and smiling were also found to correlate with EV judgments. The level of consensus declined when initially unacquainted Ss interacted 1-on-1 (Study 2), but did not decline—and even increased—when Ss interacted in a group (Study 3). Ss judged as extraverted at zero acquaintance were also seen as extraverted after interacting with others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social comparison, task motivation, and the development of self-evaluative standards in children.

Investigated whether 30 1st graders and 27 4th graders were more interested in comparing with a similarly performing other than with others whose performances were superior or inferior to their own. Ss were given the opportunity to compare performances with a peer on each trial of an achievement task. Ss were given feedback that the peer's performance level was either consistently higher than, lower than, or roughly the same as their own. Ss who were offered comparison with a similarly performing peer (a) chose to compare more often, (b) persisted at the task for more trials, and (c) self-rewarded on a smaller proportion of the trials than did Ss offered comparison with a consistently superior or inferior peer. Those offered a superior peer did not differ from those offered an inferior peer on any of these measures. However, younger Ss compared more often with a similar other than did older ones. Results are discussed in the context of the role social comparison plays in children's establishment of standards for evaluating the goodness of their own performance. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The understanding of invariance by very young children.

Conducted 3 conservation experiments with a total of 164 3-6 yr. olds to determine whether young children understand the invariance of quantity. Results show that (a) even 3-yr-olds were able to transfer a quantity judgment over a perceptual transformation very well, (b) Ss only failed to make this kind of transfer when the judgments normally produced by the pre- and post-transformation displays were in direct conflict, and (c) training that some cues provide a more reliable basis for quantity judgments than others enabled Ss to transfer quantity judgments over perceptual transformations much more effectively than they had previously. It is concluded that very young children have a basic understanding of invariance, and that their real difficulty in quantity tasks is in distinguishing between a correct and an incorrect basis for quantity judgments. (French summary) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analysis of teacher judgments of pupil achievement levels.

Analyzed the accuracy of 12 teachers' judgments of pupil achievement levels. Ss were asked to provide for each of their 322 3rd–8th grade pupils an estimate of achievement test performance, a rating of basic intellectual ability, and a rating of motivation to do school work. Pupils were administered the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test and the Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Test. Analyses revealed a high level of accuracy for the achievement judgments when compared to test scores. There was no evidence that pupil gender functioned as a biasing variable in the judgments, but there were indications that the pupil ability variable was a source of bias for some Ss, who overestimated the performance of high-ability pupils and underestimated the performance of low-ability pupils. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Responsiveness to conservation training as a function of induced subjective uncertainty, M-space, and cognitive style.

According to M. Lefebvre and A. Pinard (1972), conflict training can be successful in inducing conservation, but only if children's habitual subjective certainty is disturbed first. To test this notion, 54 low-socioeconomic-status nonconservers, aged 5-8 yrs, were trained with Lefebvre and Pinard's conflict procedure, preceded by activities which induced either high, neutral, or low subjective uncertainty. A comparable group of 9 Ss served as controls. Tests of M-space, field dependence, and impulsivity (backward digit span, portable rod-and-frame test, and Matching Familiar Figures Test, respectively) were administered as covariates. None of the control Ss showed any improvement from pretest to posttest, whereas 50% of the treatment Ss did. However, while improvement was strongly related to M-space ( r = .52), there was no effect due to the preliminary activities or to cognitive style. Results suggest that sensitivity to conflict is not a function of the S's initial degree of subjective uncertainty, but rather of his capacity to coordinate cues and to perceive conflict. To account for the relationship between conflict and M-space, the neo-Piagetian model of conservation proposed by J. Pascual-Leone (1970) is presented and expanded to include a preliminary stage where the resolution of cue conflict in quantification tasks leads to the creation of an executive scheme appropriate for solving the conservation problem. (French summary) (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of a narrative model on children's moral judgments.

Tested the hypothesis that children's moral orientation can be influenced by exposure to narrated models that express consistent moral judgments based on either the consequences of an action or the motives of the individual. 66 1st and 2nd graders were randomly assigned to 3 conditions: objective model (judgments based on consequences), subjective model (judgments based on motives), or no model, with an equal number of males and females in each group. Following the procedure of Piaget and others, a pretest presented all Ss with pairs of stories contrasting a well-intentioned act involving serious consequences with an ill-intentioned act involving minor consequences. In the experimental phase which followed the pretest by 2 wks, Ss were exposed to narrative characters who made consistent moral judgments. A posttest conducted by another E followed immediately. Results indicate that the objective model condition significantly increased responding based on consequences, and the subjective model condition significantly increased responding on motives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)