During a ________ task, 4-year-old Marissa is asked whether there are more oranges or fruits in a group of two apples, one banana, and three oranges. She will most likely say ________.
A) class inclusion; there are more fruits
B) class inclusion; there are more oranges
C) conservation-of-number; there are more fruits
D) conservation-of-number; there are more oranges

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is an example of a class inclusion task, as the question is asking Marissa to determine whether the oranges belong to a larger group (fruits) or a smaller group (oranges). Marissa is likely to focus on the more salient feature (number of oranges) and therefore say that there are more oranges, despite the fact that there are more fruits overall. This is due to her limited ability to understand hierarchical relationships between groups at this age. Conservation-of-number tasks, on the other hand, involve determining whether the quantity of a substance remains the same despite changes in its appearance or distribution.

During a ________ Task, 4-Year-Old Marissa Is Asked Whether There