Policeman doll

• Aim

  To see whether children aged between 3-5 years old displayed egocentric thinking
• Method

  Shown a model with 2 intersecting walls

  A policeman doll was put in the model with a boy doll

  Policeman moved to different positions and the kids had to hide the boy doll from it

  Another policeman doll was added and the child had to hide the boy doll from both policemen

  Repeated 3 times
• Results

  90% aged 3 1/2 - 5 could hide the boy doll from the policeman dolls
• Conclusion

  Children aged 3 1/2 - 5 years can see things from another perspective if it’s familiar which contradicts Piagets findings
• Strength

  Mundane realism as it’s more realistic for children to play with dolls than the 3 mountains task
• Weakness

  -low ecological validity as it’s an unfamiliar environment

  -low generalisability as they’re all from one school in Scotland so have a similar educational background