Piagetian Tasks

I decided to perform the piagetian tasks on my 7 year old cousin Troy. My younger sister was also there when I had him perform the tasks. She is 8 years old and the difference between them was astounding. I had never realized how big of a difference one year can make, especially in the first few years of life. I really enjoyed performing these piagetian tasks. I really do think that Jean Piaget has some really great theories and stages for cognitive development.
1. The first thing I did was fill two glasses with water. I used the same style of glass with the same amount of water. Then I got a different type of glass and set it to the side. I set the two glasses out in front of him and I asked. "Do you think there is the same amount of water each glass?" He said yes and then I asked him "Are you sure?" He nodded his head yes. Then I took one of the glasses and poured it into the 3rd glass I had out. I then asked him "Does one glass have more or less water, or is it still the same amount?" He pointed to the "different" glass and said that one has less water in it. I then tried to get him to rethink his answer by asking " Are you sure this glass has less water, you dont think its the same amount of water?" He told me of course it is a different amount of water. Look at it amber!! Meanwhile my sister was laughing saying of course its still the same troy. She didnt put any more water in or take any out, all she did was switch the cups. :)
2. I wanted to use playdoh for this task but I didn't have any so...... I got creative. I decided I would take two mini candy bars and open them and then I would smash one and ask him if it still had the same amount of candy. So took two snickers candy bars and put them out on the table. I asked Troy "Are these candy bars the same size with the same amount of candy?" He said yes. Then I took my hand and smashed one of the candy bars. (which by the way had both kids laughing) Then I asked him "How about now? Do both candy bars have the same amount of candy?" His response was the same as the last time. He said the smashed candy bar had less candy. I asked him "Are you sure?" He said yes. My sister said it is still the same. She even told Troy she would eat the smashed candy bar and he could eat the other one, because she still would get the same amount of candy. :) He still wasnt convinced.
3. The last task I performed with Troy was with marbles. I used green and yellow marbles. I had 8 green marbles and 5 yellow marbles. I told Troy to count the marbles. He did not have to use one to one correspondence. Which is great!! He told me there were 8 green marbles and 5 yellow marbles. Then I spaced out the line of yellow marbles farther apart than the green and asked him "Which color of marbles do I have more of?" He said green without even thinking about it. Then I asked the question "Do I have more marbles or green marbles?" Troy took his time in answering this question. After about 30 seconds he told me there were more marbles than green marbles. I found it interesting that of the 3 tasks he could perform only this one with ease. My sister Lexi said "You're right Troy you're right!"
One note I want to add is how hard it is to ask the questions without implementing the answer. This was a great assignment to better understand Piaget's stages of cognitive development.