Miriam is testing a concept that she learned in her child development class. She takes ten pennies to the preschool where she is doing her internship. She shows the children the pennies and asks them to count them. Then she makes two parallel rows of five pennies in each row that are both evenly spaced so that the rows are in alignment. Then, as the children watch, she spreads the bottom row out by increasing the distance between the pennies. She asks the children which row contains more pennies. They all respond that the bottom row has more. This illustrates that the children are unable to solve ___________ problems.
A) spatial
B) abstract
C) conservation
D) hypothetical

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This illustrates that the children are unable to solve conservation problems, as they are not recognizing that the quantity of pennies remains the same despite the change in the spatial arrangement. Conservation problems involve understanding that certain properties of objects are conserved even when their appearance changes.

Miriam Is Testing a Concept That She Learned in Her