Two short,fat glasses with the same amount of water are placed in front of a group of children.The children watch as water is poured from one short,fat glass into a tall,skinny glass.The children are then asked,"Does the tall,skinny glass have the same,more,or less water than the short,fat glass " At what stage of development would a child first be able to correctly answer that the glasses have equal amounts

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Children in the concrete operational stage (ages 7-11) begin to understand conservation, which is the understanding that changing the appearance of an object does not change its basic properties. In this scenario, they would understand that the amount of water remains the same despite being poured into a different shaped glass. Younger children in the sensorimotor and preoperational stages would not have this understanding and may incorrectly answer that the glasses have different amounts of water. The formal operational stage (ages 11 and up) is focused more on abstract reasoning and hypothetical situations, so it is not relevant in this scenario.

Two Short,fat Glasses with the Same Amount of Water Are