FIGURATIVE AND OPERATIVE ASPECTS OF CHILDREN'S INFERENCE

Abstract

YouNIss, JAMES, and DENNISON, ANN. Figurative and Operative Aspects of Children's Inference. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1971, 42, 1837-1847. This study attempted to specify 2 complementary aspects of children's inferential size judgments within the context of Piaget's theory. Inferred from the data were a figurative aspect, studied in terms of judgments based on absolute size designations, and an operative aspect, defined by inferences based on transitive relations among sizes. They were found to function together according to developmental level, which was measured in terms of availability of the seriation structure. Operativity was concluded as the necessary condition for logical inference, with the figurative aspect of size labeling helping children who evidenced greater operative success. Children who failed to manifest the seriation structure did not succeed, even when figurative information alone might lead to size judgments.