The Student Room Group

Psychology AQA B A2 Coursework - trying to determine a hypothesis

Hi all,

I'm just about to begin my AQA B A2 coursework and am considering what to investigate. My teacher recommended Piaget and cognitive development as a good topic to draw from.
I'm interested in replicating Piaget's pendulum study, which investigates Piaget's 'formal operational' stage of child development. However I am not sure how to go about this as I would be conducting the experiment with people aged 16 - 19 (the joys of opportunity sampling!!) so what kind of hyothesis would I have? I'm really not sure, I've hit a brick wall. Would it be necessary to compare 16 - 19 y.o. results with those of children below formal operational age? My teacher didn't seem to thin so, as when discussing it with her I rejected conservation studies on the basis that I had no access to children, so she suggested the theory of abstraction and pendulum stdy as an alternative.
Any ideas anyone?
Thanks x
Reply 1
That sounds pretty tough. The pendulum study depends on the size, weight, length of string etc on the pendulum and of course people above formal operational stage (i.e. over 11.5 yrs and able to carry out 'assimilation') should be able to manage it, so it's kinda difficult to find a group to compare, since you only have access to 16-19 year olds.

All I know is that some adults fail on this type of task depending on the way it's presented, so you could do something along the lines of this. For example, there is a study where participants are given a picture of a plane with ball on, and participants are required to draw a line as to where the ball will drop, and most get it wrong, which is kinda like the physics theory Piaget proposes. You could compare this presentation with the pendulum one and see if you can find differences? Maybe due to movement of the object (plane).

Hmmm I'll try a diagram....



Yeah I know my drawing is awful but you might understand, if not it'll be cos I've explained it awful....tired. PM me if you like!
Reply 2
Wow thanks very much for your detailed reply!! Did you really do those drawings just for this post?! Thanks a lot for your help, it did make sense to me, I've scheduled an appointment with my tutor so hopefully will get it sorted out tomorrow. Thanks very much again, x x
Reply 3
You're welcome :smile: I hope it helps! Yeah I did them drawings for the post...they're not that good :redface: I guess if you give one group the pendulam example and one the aeroplane one, all you'll need to do it photocopy loads and get people to put the arrows on, so you're not asking them to do a big things so most people will do it for you no problem :smile:

Good Luck with your meeting with your tutor :biggrin: