Patricia is upset because she is convinced that her brother has a bigger piece of cake than she does.Her dad quickly slices Patricia's piece of cake in two and tells her that she now has "more" cake.What would it suggest about Patricia's cognitive development if she calms down and is convinced that she does have more cake than her brother

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This scenario is a classic conservation task, where a child is presented with two identical objects or quantities that are manipulated in some way (such as pouring water from a tall, thin glass into a short, wide glass) to see if the child understands that the amount has not actually changed. If Patricia is initially upset because she thinks her brother has more cake, it suggests that she does not yet understand conservation of quantity. However, if she calms down and accepts that she has "more" cake because it has been physically spread out into two pieces, it shows that she is beginning to understand the concept of conservation.

Patricia Is Upset Because She Is Convinced That Her Brother