An educational psychologist used several tasks with pupils. The two groups aged 5–6 were separate but similar groups. The same 20 pupils aged 8 completed both conservation tasks.
| Age of pupils | Task | Number showing the ability, out of 20 |
|---|---|---|
| 5–6 | Conservation of number after one row was deliberately spread out | 7 |
| 5–6 | Conservation of number after a puppet accidentally disturbed one row | 15 |
| 8 | Conservation of number using rows of counters | 18 |
| 8 | Conservation of liquid using differently shaped glasses | 11 |
| 13 | Organised testing of possible solutions to a hypothetical problem | 17 |
Use your knowledge and understanding from across the psychology course and the information in the table to explain how far you agree with the following viewpoint:
“Age is enough to predict how a child will think because cognitive development occurs in fixed stages.”
In your answer you should refer to Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development and at least one other area of psychology.
104 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Psychology 2.2 Theories/Explanations, covering 2.2.1 Piaget's four invariant stages, 2.2.2 Assimilation and accommodation, 2.2.3 Object permanence, animism, egocentrism, 2.2.4 Decentration, reversibility, conservation; criticisms, 2.2.5 Cognitive Development research study: Piaget (1952), 2.2.6 Dweck's fixed and growth mindsets, 2.2.7 Willingham's learning styles and meaning; criticisms, and 2.2.8 Learning research study: Blackwell et al. (2007). Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.