OBJECT
PERMANENCE &
CONSERVATION
TASK.
PIAGET’S THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT
Name:-Zainab younus
Subject:- Development and Psychology
OBJECT PERMANCE
EXPLAINED
Defination:- It is the idea of acknowledging the fact that an
object when is out of sight still exists.
When a child attains object permanence, they have crossed
their secondary circular reactions stage and moved onto their
coordination of secondary circular reactions stage. These are
stages in the sensorimotor stage as explained Piaget in his
theory of Human development.
Once in this stage the child is now able to interact with
environment with certain intentions and their actions are then
goal oriented.
CHILD’S BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
Name:- Ayesha Askari
Age:- 11 months
Gender:- female
Weight :- 8.7 kg
Lives with :- mother, father and paternal grandmother
First child, no siblings as of yet
Health:-
Physical:- normal health as of now, however, difficulties at time of
birth due to untimely labor and drop in liker levels of the mother.
Also, the child has inherited Febrile Seizures from her mother
Mental health:- Normal as described by the mother
TASK INSTRUCTIONS(AS PER
ASSIGNMENT)
Instructions for the Object Permanence Task
Step 1 :- Seat the child on the high chair with a table in front or in
another secure position that allows the child to reach for the object but
not crawl away.
Step 2 :- Place a toy that the child finds interesting (e.g. a teddy bear) in
front of it, just out of its reach. If the child doesn't notice it, try to draw its
attention to it. Observe and make a note of the child's behavior.
Step 3 :- Place a towel over the toy after around 15 seconds. Observe
and make a note of the child's behavior.
Step 4 :-Repeat this cycle for all five of the objects (5 trials).
RESULTS AND
INTERPRETIONS
Object permenance task:- successful
Result:- 60% success as the towel was removed 3 out of 5
times
Interpretation:- the child had good sensorimotor skills and is
goal oriented.
Result:- was not able to identify the object under the towel 2
out of times
Interpretation:- it was due to limiting factors that were:-
1. She was distracted by sunlight
2. Her teething stage caused her pain and so she started
crying.
CONSERVATION
Definition:- It is the ability to tell that even if the shape or form
of a certain object changes the quantity remains the same.
If attains conservation skills then they are in their Concrete
Operational stage which is from 7 to 11 years. This is when the
child has grasp of conversation and understanding of what the
other person is trying to tell.
If one does not have conseravation isentification they remail in
their pre-operational stage. In this stage a child is more
egocentric and thinks that they are right.
CHILDS BACKGROUND
Name:- Khadija Faisal
Age:- 9 years Old
Grade:- 4
Gender:- female
Lives with :- 3 siblings, mother, father, cat
Youngest child
Health:- normal and healthy as stated by the mother she is a very active
child.
Mentally strong
Well dressed at time of task perfromance
TASK INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1 :Fill two identical wide water glasses with exactly the same
amount of water, within sight, so that the child can observe you
doing it. Question: Do these glasses contain the same amount of
water? (You could pour a little more into a glass until the child
believes that both glasses contain the same quantity.)
Step 2 :Question: “Watch carefully what I'm going to do now.” Pour
the water from one of the glasses into a taller, narrower glass.
Step 3 :Question: “Do these glasses contain the same amount of
water now?” Once the child has answered, ask it: “Why do you think
that?”
RESULTS AND
INTERPRETATION
Results:-
The child was successfully able to tell how the water remained the same. She was able
to tell that the quantity is same even if in a different form. Khadija was observant
through out the task. However, she hesitated to answer when she was asked the reason
to her response. In a few seconds she was able to correctly tell the reason for her
answer. She was able to explain in detail on how she could tell if they were the same
quantity. All if this points towards the direction of Khadija being in the Concrete
operational stage of development.
Interpretation:-
Khadija’s sensorimotor skills and rational thinking skills were developed properly. Due to
her observant behavior she was able to grasp the situation well. Her hesitant behavior
when the question was asked could be due to reliance on the Sympathetic Autonomic
nervous system’s fight, flight or freeze phenomenon. Her constant glances at the
examiner showed that she was confirming her answer by observing the examiners
reaction. This showed that Khadija had was able to find meaning to non-verbal cues as
well. Khadija’s age is a considerable factor in this task as she is above 8 years of age.
JAZAKILLAH
KHAIR!