Effet de l'énoncé d'un problème d'inégalité sur l'acquisition de la conservation par observation

Abstract

Summary In the present experiment an attempt was mode to establish the extent to which the conservation responses that are produced by an initially nonconserving child while observing the performance of a conserving model indicate whether the child simply imitates the observed behavior or whether he understands to some extent the principle involved. Five observation situations were designed : in the first four situations observation was interrupted after the experimentees question and the child spoke his or her answer prior to hearing the model's ; in the fifth situation observation was nol interrupted. In the first three situations, the model solved three problems that required an equality judgment and an inequality problem that was given respectively in the second, the third, or the fourth position. In the last two situations, the model solved four equality problems. The data reveal that in the four situations in which observation was interrupted rapid adoption of the modeVs response occurred. In the first three situations, the observers failed the inequality problem : whereas a majority of them only took into account the height of the liquid, those who stated an incorrect equality judgment achieved a higher overall performance during both observation and post-test. In ail five observation situations, acquisition was equivalent but it reached a higher level among the children who gave more conservation responses during observation. Children achieve the comprehension of conservation when they first display frequent imitation of the modeVs response at the time of the observation period.

Observational learning of conservation: When imitative practice makes nearly perfect

“…Previous data (Robert & Charbonneau, 1979) had substantiated the validity of the hypothesis which attributes observational attainment to a preliminary phase of mimical adoption of the conservation rule that begins during the model's demonstration itself. Altogether, the present findings indicate that such adoption persists at least during immediate post-testing.…”

“…In this sense, it could be that the child strives to integrate the content of imitative behaviour to his or her existing schemes. learning procedures, other authors (Charbonneau er al., 1976;Charbonneau & Robert, 1977;Robert & Charbonneau, 1979) have been led to ascribe a similar function to imitation, in order to account for the attainment of conservation through an observational learning paradigm. More precisely, their position suggests that, because the observational setting exerts a built-in pressure towards compliance, the non-conserver accepts the modelled responses somewhat mimically given his or her limited and superficial grasp of their content.…”

“…Indeed, adoption of modelled conservation has frequently been recorded during the observation phase of social learning, while very little opposition to or conflict with the model's responses has been obtained during the same phase (Charbonneau & Robert, 1977). Such adoption has been found to be imitative in nature and a strong positive relationship between the presence of initial mimicry and subsequent mastery was disclosed (Robert & Charbonneau, 1979). Furthermore, cognitively well-prepared observers who receive imitation pre-training (in tasks not related to conservation), rather than a counter-imitation condition (in which reinforcement is 0261-5lOX/S3/030269-10 $02.00/0 C The British Psychological Society Through their marriage of stringent Piagetian criteria for cognitive progress with social contingent upon performance of the opposite of the model's response), display higher proficiency after conservation modelling.…”

Observational learning of conservation: Its independence from social influence

“…A similar success has been claimed when model and observer were allowed to interact (Doise et al, 1976;Mugny et al, 1975;Perret-Clermont, 1979). In both contexts, acquisition appears to be genuine, in that the new conservation responses exceed the mimical repetition of the modelled demonstration, and reveals some comprehension of the involved cognitive rule (Perret-Clermont, 1979;Robert & Charbonneau, 1979. One approach to the establishment of the authenticity of the observer's responses has centred on their measurement in reference to critical Piagetian criteria as defined by Kuhn (1974).…”

“…One approach to the establishment of the authenticity of the observer's responses has centred on their measurement in reference to critical Piagetian criteria as defined by Kuhn (1974). Indeed, it has been shown (Charbonneau et al, 1976;Robert & Charbonneau, 1979Robert & Fortin, 1981) that (1) former non-conservers are able to supplement their conservation judgments with appropriate justification, (2) this capacity generalizes to tasks differing both in content and structure from the modelled task and (3) such an achievement is still obtained after several weeks.…”