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The role of conflict and of agreement between intellectual strategies in children's ideas about measurement
Author(s) -
Bryant Peter
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1982.tb01807.x
Subject(s) - psychology , argument (complex analysis) , agreement , social psychology , measure (data warehouse) , developmental psychology , philosophy , biochemistry , linguistics , computer science , chemistry , database
Four experiments tested the hypothesis that it is agreement and not conflict between strategies which produces intellectual change in young children. The argument behind the hypothesis is that conflict tells the child that something is wrong but not what it is, and certainly not what is the right strategy. On the other hand if one strategy consistently produces the same answer as another, the child can be reasonably sure that both are right. In the first experiment it was demonstrated that children measured more after seeing that measurement agreed with direct comparisons. In the next two experiments experience of conflict failed to have any effect on children's willingness to measure. The final experiment looked at the effect of telling children that their measurements were right. This did not increase measurement either. Together these experiments provide support for the idea that children learn when strategies agree rather than when they conflict.