A test of the Piagetian water-level task with Chinese students.
A sample of 486 children in Beijing, China, were tested on the water-level task (WLT; J. Piaget & B. Inhelder, 1948/1956). The participants were 256 boys and 230 girls from 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 11th grades. Three levels of mastery of the WLT were found. Level 1 consisted of 4th and 5th graders, who averaged about 71% correct. Level 2 consisted of 6th and 8th graders, who averaged about 83% correct. Level 3 consisted of 11th graders, who averaged 97% correct. The results provide partial support for the Piagetian theory of age-related developmental differences in performance on the WLT. The findings depict an interactive relationship of maturation with culture and education in the development of the ability to solve the WLT.
Li
C
C
Department of Counseling and Applied Educational Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA. cli@lynx.dac.neu.edu
Nuttall
R L
RL
Zhao
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002681:China; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012737:Sex Factors; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000502:physiology