THE INFLUENCE OF CONTEXT AND PERCEPTUAL CONTRAST IN THE ASSESSMENT OF PIAGETIAN ABILITIES: A STUDY OF EVALUATION BY VIDEO PROCEDURES.
Item
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Title
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THE INFLUENCE OF CONTEXT AND PERCEPTUAL CONTRAST IN THE ASSESSMENT OF PIAGETIAN ABILITIES: A STUDY OF EVALUATION BY VIDEO PROCEDURES.
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Identifier
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AAI8112747
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identifier
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8112747
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Creator
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WHITE, DONALD EDWARD.
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Contributor
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Prof. Joseph Glick
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Date
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1981
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Developmental
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Abstract
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Two studies were performed to investigate the effects of contextual and perceptual variables upon performance by transitional children on two Piagetian tasks which evaluate structure at the concrete operational level. Context, or the situation which frames the task, was varied by means of a videotaped story in which the Piagetian task was used to trick or outwit a bully. In the first of the studies, the effect of this variable was examined on the conservation of continuous quantity (liquid) task among 96 second grade children. Changes from active to passive observer role which this contextual change introduced were also examined. Results indicated that superior performance was produced through the action of the contextual variable. Differences between active and passive observer role were not found to be of consequence.;The second study utilized 192 second grade children to examine the effects of context and perceptual contrast upon performance on both the conservation of continuous quantity (liquid) task and a class inclusion task used to measure additive classification (i.e. a problem requiring the subject to determine whether there were more items in a superordinate set or in one of two presented subsets). Once again a significant effect was found for the contextual variable. The perceptual variable produced a significant effect upon the conservation task only, where increased perceptual contrast between pre- and post-transformation states was associated with better performance. This result was interpreted as tentative support for Piaget's recent position that stimulus changes in transformed materials should be viewed in terms of commutability and vicarious relationships, rather than relationships that are compensatory.;The major finding of the two studies was that variables existing apart from Piagetian structural concepts can produce spontaneous improvement of performance on a Piagetian task. These variables can arise from perceptual sources intrinsic to the Piagetian task and from contextual sources extrinsic to the task. In the case of the latter, performance may be influenced, regardless of whether the task involves a transformation of stimulus material. In the case of the former, the possibility of an effect beyond tasks featuring a physical transformation remains equivocal. The mechanism responsible for the enhancement of performance was said to be the inhibition or reduction in strength of the immediate response based strictly upon the more salient of the task dimensions, an effect which enables the use of dimensions less salient, as well, and thereby promotes operativity.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Educational Psychology
