| Abstract: | The present study replicates and extends an experiment by Bruner and Kenney (Bruner, J. S. American Psychologist, 1964, 19, 1–15; Beyond the information given, NY: Allen & Unwin, 1973;Bruner, J. S., Olver, R. R., & Greenfield, P. M. et al. (Eds.), Studies in cognitive growth, NY: Wiley, 1966). Children aged 5 to 11 were shown pairs of glasses containing water and were asked if one glass of each pair was fuller or emptier and to give the reason. Children aged 12 to 15 and adult subjects were subsequently included but asked to judge only fullness.The glasses differed in height, diameter, and water level and consequently in volume of water and volume of unfilled space, and in proportion full and proportion empty.It is shown that the Bruner experiment reveals weaknesses in design and procedure and focuses on the dichotomous sense of fullness rather than the partial dimension explored in the present study. Contrary to earlier findings the present results indicate that the child tends to think of fullness and emptiness in the same manner and that, far from the concept being mastered at age 11, it is still not completely understood in adulthood.By 11 years the child can cope with fractions and compare volumes, but at age 15 and in adulthood he is still not fully aware that he must not only estimate the volume of the container that is filled but also relate this volume to the total volume of the container and finally compare the two ratio measures obtained.The results are discussed in terms of Bruner's representation-conflict hypothesis, Clark's (Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behvaior, 1971, 10, 266–275; Semantic development in language acquisition. Paper presented at the Third Child Language Research Forum, Stanford University, 1971; Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1972, 11, 750–758; Cognition, 1973, 2.2, 161–182; What's in a word? On the child's acquisition of semantics in his first language. In T. E. Moore (Ed.), Cognitive development and the acquisition of language. NY: Academic Press, 1973) semantic-feature theory and from a functional perspective. Follow-up research is outlined. |
