Effects of Observing and Judging Mistakes on Preschoolers' Definitional Shape Knowledge

• In Event: Topics in Early Childhood Mathematics

Abstract

We investigate whether the opportunity to detect and explain mistakes made by a puppet during a shape sorting task improves preschoolers’ (N=60; M=57.35 months) knowledge of defining features of shapes (Error Judgment condition). This experience is contrasted with simply observing the experimenter judge and explain the puppet’s mistakes (Error Observation condition). Children in both conditions were equally successful on the shape-sorting task (67-89% correctly sorted varying by shape category). We also examine children’s strategies in making judgments on the accuracy of the puppet’s sorting. Behaviors such as guessing, agreement with puppet, correcting puppet, counting behaviors, and other behaviors and verbalizations are coded from video data to determine how they relate to children’s posttest performance.

Authors

• Christina Areizaga Barbieri, University of Delaware

• Brianna Devlin, University of Delaware

• Alyssa Glynn

• Mia Farinella, University of Delaware