Four-year-old Hugo is shown two rows of six candles each. The candles in one row are spaced farther than the candles in the other row. When Hugo is asked if there are an equal number of candles in both rows, he replies that the row with more distance between the candles has more candles. In the context of Jean Piaget's cognitive theory, this illustrates Hugo's inability to grasp
A) theory of mind.
B) object permanence.
C) conservation.
D) transduction.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This illustrates Hugo's inability to grasp conservation, which is the understanding that quantity does not change despite changes in the shape or arrangement of objects. Piaget found that children typically develop this understanding during the concrete operational stage, which starts around age 7.

Four-Year-Old Hugo Is Shown Two Rows of Six Candles Each