Question

Discuss the relationship between centration and the inability to conserve qualities in the pre-operational thinker.

Answer 1

Centration refers to the tendency to focus on one salient aspect of a situation and neglect other, possibly relevant aspects. Piaget demonstrated centration through several tasks, among which is the conservation of liquids task. In one version, the child is shown two glasses, A1 and A2, that are filled to the same height. The child is asked if the two glasses contain the same amount of liquid, in which the child almost always agrees that they do. Next, the experimenter pours the liquid from A2 to glass P, which is lower and wider.

The child is then asked if the amount of liquid is still the same. At the preoperational stage, children will respond that the amount is not the same, with either the taller glass or the wider glass containing more liquid. Here, centration is demonstrated in the fact that the child pays attention to one aspect of the liquid, either the height or the width, and is unable to conserve because of it.