Naughty Teddy Study

    Cards (6)

    • Aim
      To see if a deliberate change in a row of counters would help younger children with conservation
    • Method
      Children between 4 and 6 were shown 2 rows of counters. A 'naughty teddy' would mess these up. The children were then asked if the rows were the same.
    • Results
      When the change to the rows was accidental 68% of the children conserved
      When the change to the rows was deliberate 41% of the children conserved
      They found that older children tended to perform better
    • Conclusion
      The study found that Piaget underestimated what children can do
      but that there are still age-related changes
    • Weakness
      The sample was made up of children from one school - so the study cannot be used to draw valid comparisons between groups.
    • Weakness
      Children may have appeared to conserve when they were just distracted by the teddy bear and therefore didn't notice the change