Suppose you line up two rows of marbles, each of which has 6 marbles in it. In Row A, the marbles are spaced closely together; in Row B, the marbles are spread out farther apart. If you asked a 5-year-old and an 8-year-old, "Which row has more marbles?" you should expect the 5-year-old to say __________ and the 8-year-old to say _____________.
A) Row A; Row B
B) Row B; Row A
C) Row B; they are the same
D) they are the same; they are the same

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This problem is like Piaget's matchstick problem. The child in the preoperational stage will focus on the perceptual aspects of the problem, and conclude that the row that takes up the most space has more marbles. The child in the stage of formal operations will correctly understand that space is unrelated to number and will correctly conclude that there are the same number of marbles in each row.

Suppose You Line Up Two Rows of Marbles, Each of Which