An experimenter shows a child two clay "sausages" that are identical in size and shape and then allows the child to watch as she rolls one of the clay sausages into a longer, thinner sausage. The experimenter then asks the child whether the two clay sausages still contain the same amount of clay. This experiment was designed to examine:
A) object permanence.
B) egocentrism.
C) symbolic representations.
D) conservation.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This experiment is designed to test the child's understanding of conservation, which is the ability to understand that the amount of a substance (such as clay) remains the same even when the appearance of the substance changes (such as the sausage being rolled out).

An Experimenter Shows a Child Two Clay "Sausages" That Are