Empirical versus Logical Solutions to Part-Whole Comparison Problems concerning Classes and Collections

Abstract

MARKMAN, ELLEN M. Empirical versus Logical Solutions to Part-Whole Comparison Problems concerning Classes and Collections. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1978, 49, 168-177. When initially solving the Piagetian class-inclusion problem, children may take the greater numerosity of the superordinate class, compared to its subordinate class, to be an empirical fact rather than a logical consequence of the part-whole relation. This hypothesis was tested in study 1, where second through sixth graders, all of whom could answer inclusion questions, were given tasks which required them to answer the questions in the absence of empirical information about relative quantity and to predict whether a subordinate class could be made larger than its superordinate class. Results indicated that until about sixth grade children treat the greater numerosity of the superordinate class as an empirical fact. Given this age range, it seemed possible that formal operations are required to appreciate necessity. To test this stage theory, in study 2 children's performance in 2 part-whole domains, classes and collections, was compared. Collections are the referents of collective nouns (e.g., forest, family, army). Collections are argued to form better psychological units and to have more literal part-whole relations than classes. Previous work has demonstrated that part-whole comparisons are simpler when made on collections than on classes. The results of study 2 suggest that conceptualizing elements as collections also enhances children's awareness of the logical necessity of their answers. The good performance of elementary school children that was found for collections argues against a stage-theory interpretation of the appreciation of necessity.

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