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examBoard: AQA
examType: GCSE
lessonTitle: McGarrigle and Donaldson Study
Before we dive into the McGarrigle and Donaldson study, we need to understand what they were testing. Jean Piaget developed a famous theory about how children's thinking develops through different stages.
Piaget believed children move through four distinct stages as their thinking matures:
Key Definitions:
Piaget developed several tasks to test children's understanding of conservation. In these tasks, children watch as objects or substances are rearranged and then they're asked if the quantity has changed.
A child is shown two identical glasses with the same amount of water. The water from one glass is poured into a taller, thinner glass. The child is asked if there is still the same amount of water. Children in the preoperational stage typically say there is more water in the taller glass because "it's taller."
A row of counters is spread out or bunched together. Children are asked if the number has changed. Preoperational children often say there are more counters when they're spread out because "they take up more space."
According to Piaget, children in the preoperational stage (ages 2-7) typically fail conservation tasks because they focus on how things look rather than understanding that quantity stays the same despite appearance changes.
Margaret McGarrigle and Margaret Donaldson were psychologists who questioned whether Piaget's conservation tasks were really measuring children's understanding of conservation or if there was something else going on.
McGarrigle and Donaldson wondered if children might be misinterpreting the experimenter's intentions when they ask the same question twice. They thought children might assume that when an adult asks the same question again after changing something, they must want a different answer.
McGarrigle and Donaldson designed a clever experiment to test their idea. They used a conservation of number task but introduced a mischievous character - a "naughty teddy" - to change how the task was presented.
The experimenter shows two equal rows of counters. They ask if the rows have the same number. Then the experimenter deliberately spreads out one row and asks again if they have the same number.
The experimenter shows two equal rows of counters and asks if they're the same. Then a teddy bear puppet "accidentally" messes up one row (spreading it out). The experimenter seems surprised and asks again if the rows have the same number.
Participants: 80 children aged 4-6 years (in the preoperational stage according to Piaget)
Procedure:
Key difference: In the standard task, the experimenter deliberately changed the arrangement. In the "naughty teddy" task, the change appeared accidental and caused by the teddy, not the experimenter.
Only 16% of children correctly said the number of counters remained the same after the row was spread out.
62% of children correctly said the number remained the same after the teddy "accidentally" spread out the row.
The dramatic difference in results suggested that children's apparent failure in Piaget's conservation tasks might not be due to an inability to understand conservation. Instead, it could be because of how they interpret the social situation of the experiment.
McGarrigle and Donaldson concluded that:
Shows that children may understand conservation earlier than Piaget thought, suggesting his stages might not be as fixed as he claimed.
Highlights how children interpret social situations and experimenter expectations, which affects their responses in psychological tests.
Demonstrates the importance of careful experimental design to avoid demand characteristics that might skew results.
The McGarrigle and Donaldson study has important implications for how we understand children's thinking and how we should approach research with children:
This research reminds us that:
Today, psychologists recognize that Piaget made enormous contributions to our understanding of child development, but his methods had limitations. Studies like McGarrigle and Donaldson's have led to more nuanced views:
The "naughty teddy" study remains a classic example of how clever experimental design can reveal children's true capabilities and challenge established theories in psychology.
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