Piaget's Water-level Research Articles

Sex and Ability Differences in Neural Strategy for Piaget's Water Level Test.

To explore brain activation differences between the sexes and between high and low performers on spatial perception performance, 43 college students (20 males and 23 females) performed the Piaget's Water Level Test (WLT) while their electroencephalogram signals were recorded. A 2 (Sex) × 2 (Group: high performing vs. low performing) × 2 (Hemisphere: left vs. right) × 3 (Region: frontal, parietal, and temporal) mixed analysis of variance on beta power data showed that females more significantly activated the left hemisphere when performing the WLT, suggesting their application of an analytic strategy. In contrast, males showed a bilateral activation pattern, suggesting their use of an analytic- or holistic-combined strategy. Moreover, superior performance on the WLT was associated with enhanced temporal lobe functioning, suggesting that a superior analytic skill is key to successful performance on the WLT. There is likely modulating impact of both cognitive style and specific task properties on spatial perception strategy preferences.

Sex Differences in Using Spatial and Verbal Abilities Influence Route Learning Performance in a Virtual Environment: A Comparison of 6- to 12-Year Old Boys and Girls.

Previous studies have reported sex differences in wayfinding performance among adults. Men are typically better at using Euclidean information and survey strategies while women are better at using landmark information and route strategies. However, relatively few studies have examined sex differences in wayfinding in children. This research investigated relationships between route learning performance and two general abilities: spatial ability and verbal memory in 153 boys and girls between 6- to 12-years-old. Children completed a battery of spatial ability tasks (a two-dimension mental rotation task, a paper folding task, a visuo-spatial working memory task, and a Piagetian water level task) and a verbal memory task. In the route learning task, they had to learn a route through a series of hallways presented via computer. Boys had better overall route learning performance than did girls. In fact, the difference between boys and girls was constant across the age range tested. Structural equation modeling of the children’s performance revealed that spatial abilities and verbal memory were significant contributors to route learning performance. However, there were different patterns of correlates for boys and girls. For boys, spatial abilities contributed to route learning while verbal memory did not. In contrast, for girls both spatial abilities and verbal memory contributed to their route learning performance. This difference may reflect the precursor of a strategic difference between boys and girls in wayfinding that is commonly observed in adults.

Piaget's water-level task: The impact of vision on performance

In the present study, the aim was to examine the differences in performance between children and adolescents with visual impairment and sighted peers in the water-level task. Twenty-eight individuals with visual impairments, 14 individuals with blindness and 14 individuals with low vision, and 28 sighted individuals participated in the present study. Fourteen sighted individuals participated blindfolded and 14 were able to use their sight. The findings indicate that use of vision can influence the performance in water-level task. However, in the restriction of visual ability (participants with blindfold), individuals with blindness might present better performance than blindfolded sighted participants.

Mapping Out Spatial Ability: Sex Differences in Way-Finding Navigation

This study examined how navigational strategies, map drawing, and map reading skills may be related in spatial perception performance of 124 U.S. undergraduate men and women who completed one of two versions of Collaer and Nelson's Judgment of Line Angle and Position-15 test and Piaget's Water Level Test. Analysis indicated sex differences in performance were eliminated when self-perceptions of map reading, map drawing, and navigational skills were used as covariates. The men used an orientation (cardinal), whereas the women used a landmark way-finding strategy. Introducing a fine motor skill to solve the Judgment of Line Angle and Position-15 eliminated the sex difference. The data suggest spatial perception is in part influenced by map reading and way-finding strategies.

Instruction Effect and Developmental Levels: A Study on Water-Level Task with Chinese Children Ages 9–17

This study investigated the effectiveness of instruction on spatial skills. It examined the effect of instruction of liquid horizontality on the performance on Piagetian Water Level Task (WLT) from a developmental perspective through two substudies. In Study 1, the WLT was administered to 256 boys and 230 girls of ages 9, 10, 12, 14, and 17 from Beijing, China, before and after instruction. The results indicate that the instruction effect was significant for the 6th (p < .05) and 8th graders (p < .001) but not for the 4th, 5th, and 11th graders. Study 2 examined instruction effect in contrast with practice effect. Participants were 69 boys and 52 girls of ages 9–14 from Beijing, China. The results indicate that children improve more on the WLT with the combination of instruction and practice than with practice alone (p < .01). The findings depict a relationship between cognitive development and instruction effect on the WLT.

A Test of the Piagetian Water-Level Task With Chinese Students

A sample of 486 children in Beijing, China, were tested on the water-level task (WLT; J. Piaget & B. Inhelder, 1948/1956). The participants were 256 boys and 230 girls from 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 11th grades. Three levels of mastery of the WLT were found. Level 1 consisted of 4th and 5th graders, who averaged about 71% correct. Level 2 consisted of 6th and 8th graders, who averaged about 83% correct. Level 3 consisted of 11th graders, who averaged 97% correct. The results provide partial support for the Piagetian theory of age-related developmental differences in performance on the WLT. The findings depict an interactive relationship of maturation with culture and education in the development of the ability to solve the WLT.

Writing Chinese characters and success on Mental Rotation Test.

Our recent study with Chinese and Chinese-American undergraduates indicated that writing Chinese characters was associated with better performance on the Piagetian Water-Level Task for Chinese-American men. The current study investigated whether the same effects would apply to the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test. Two alternative hypotheses (bilingualism and birth place) were also tested. Participants were two groups of Chinese-American undergraduates: 48 writers of Chinese (21 men, 27 women) and 130 nonwriters of Chinese (58 men, 72 women). Analysis suggested that writing Chinese and birth in the USA contributed significantly to the success on Mental Rotation Test. Students who were born in the USA and able to write Chinese scored the highest on this test. Being bilingual was not associated with performance on the Mental Rotation Test. Men performed significantly better than women.

WRITING CHINESE CHARACTERS AND SUCCESS ON MENTAL ROTATION TEST

Our recent study with Chinese and Chinese-American undergraduates indicated that writing Chinese characters was associated with better performance on the Piagetian Water-Level Task for Chinese-American men. The current study investigated whether the same effects would apply to the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test. Two alternative hypotheses (bilingualism and birth place) were also tested. Participants were two groups of Chinese-American undergraduates: 48 writers of Chinese (21 men, 27 women) and 130 nonwriters of Chinese (58 men, 72 women). Analysis suggested that writing Chinese and birth in the USA contributed significantly to the success on Mental Rotation Test. Students who were born in the USA and able to write Chinese scored the highest on this test. Being bilingual was not associated with performance on the Mental Rotation Test. Men performed significantly better than women.

Peer collaboration and children's representation of the horizontal surface of liquid

The role of peer collaboration in the acquisition of Euclidean spatial knowledge was examined in 10 and 12 year-olds (N=85). Following a pre-test on the Piagetian water-level task, children received supplemental experience observing liquid in tipped containers in one of three conditions; alone, with a peer of comparable ability (Matched Dyad) or with a peer of differing ability (Unmatched Dyad). Individual post testing occurred after the intervention. Based upon a model of cognitive change emphasizing the role of sociocognitive conflict in the disequilibration and reequilibration of thought, children working with peers were expected to show greater change in their understanding of horizontality than children working alone. Results supported the hypothesis that children working with peers would show greater change than children working alone, F(3, 84)=3.55, p=.02. Children in the Matched condition and the less competent partners in the Unmatched condition showed a significant improvement from pre-test to post test. Twelve year olds were more accurate than ten year olds (M's=17.2 vs. 23.3). Males outperformed females, although this difference was not significant. Social interactions within the two peer conditions were coded for transactions reflecting sociocognitive conflict and its resolution. Within the Matched condition significantly more talk occurred than in the Unmatched condition. There was also a significant relationship between the frequency of Organizational comments and cognitive change (r=−.37). Within the Unmatched condition there was a significant relationship between frequency of explanations and change (r=−.58). Disagreements did not relate to change in either dyadic condition. Findings demonstrate the value of peer interaction for supporting spatial thinking in middle childhood. Implications or classroom instruction are considered.

Explicit knowledge of gravity and the water-level task

Individual differences in conceptions of physical phenomena are frequently seen among normal adults. This article presents two investigations of the relation between explicit knowledge of gravity and performance on Piaget's Water Level Task. In both studies two groups were compared, one with extensive training in the physical sciences and one without. In the first study, a strong relation between success on the WLT and gravity-based explanations was found, but only in the High-Science Group. The aim of the second study was to investigate whether failure on the WLT could be due to problems in retrieving the relevant information. Minimum cuing to think about gravity yielded a statistically significant improvement for the High-Science Group only. The results are consistent with the notion that explicit knowledge of gravity can be a source of individual differences on the WLT and perhaps on other physical/spatial tasks as well.

Relationships among Gender, Cognitive Style, Academic Major, and Performance on the Piaget Water-Level Task

Many researchers have found that more college-age adults than would be expected fail Piaget's water-level task, with women failing more frequently than men. It has been hypothesized that differences in cognitive style may account for performance differences on the water-level task. In the present study, 27 male and 27 female architectural students and 27 male and 27 female liberal-arts students were assessed for their performance on both Piaget's Water-level Task and Witkin's Group Embedded Figures Test. No difference was found in performance of male and female architectural students on either task, but male liberal-arts students scored significantly higher than female liberal-arts students on both measures. A disembedding cognitive style predicted success on the water-level task for the architectural students but not for the liberal arts students.

Observational training improves adult womens' performance on Piaget's water-level task.

Among women university students who lacked conceptual understanding of the principle that the surface of still water is always horizontal, a specific task procedure designed to optimize self-discovery of the principle proved effective. Successful learning was reflected in more accurate responses on an adjustment task and by a significant increase (p less than .01) in the number of subjects able to verbalize a correct strategy. In contrast to previous research the results show that adult womens' performance on the water-level task can be improved by observational training, suggesting that the female lag in spatial skills may depend on experiential factors.

Water Levels, Falling Objects, and Spiral Tubes: An Investigation of the General Naivete Hypothesis of Physical Task Performance

Abstract Although numerous studies have reported sex differences on Piaget's water-level task, these differences remain unexplained. One potential hypothesis for water-level task performance is the general naivete hypothesis, which states that subjects failing to perform accurately on horizontality tasks do so as part of a general lack of understanding of physical phenomenon. In this study, 38 men and 38 women completed paper-and-pencil versions of three physical principle tasks: the water-level, falling object, and spiral tube problems. Analyses indicated that performance on the falling object problem was closely related to water-level task performance, whereas the spiral tube problem was not. Results suggest that horizontality performance can be explained as a figure-ground problem and that this interpretation does not necessarily exclude the general naivete hypothesis.

Adults' performance on horizontality tasks: Conflicting frames of reference.

Many adults fail the Piagetian water-level task designed to assess children's abilities to use coordinate axes for representing physical phenomena. Although McGillicuddy-De Lisi, De Lisi, and Youniss (1978) reported that adults' difficulties virtually disappear with a crossbar horizontality task, this advantage might reflect the absence of an embedding nonoblique context. Consistent with this hypothesis, college students in Study 1 performed no better on an embedded crossbar task than on the water-level task. Performance was significantly better on a disembedded crossbar task. The predicted superiority of field independence was not found. In Study 2, college students' performance on the embedded crossbar and water-level tasks again did not differ significantly. Performance on disembedded crossbar tasks was better than on the water-level task, regardless of whether or not the symmetrical, pivoted nature of the crossbar was emphasized

Cognitive and Exemplary Modelling of Horizontality Representation on the Piagetian Water-level Task

For women who fail on the Piagetian water-level task, visual inspection and/ or verbal provision training procedures have either had no effect or led to only low to moderate improvement. The present experiment involved training within the observational learning paradigm and assessed its impact through multiple measurement. College women who failed a water-level item were selected as subjects. Pretested with different containers, they also supplied justifications to their answers and rated the certainty they associated with them. In the cognitive modelling group, a model performed part of the pretest series of horizontal water-line problems. In each first problem, she also verbalised her strategy, stressing the horizontality of the water surface and its parallelism with the surface on which the container rested. In the exemplary modelling group, the model acted identically, without voicing her strategy. In the no-modelling group, experimenter and subject chatted informally. There were two post-testing sessions, one followed immediately and the other 15 days later. Acquisition in the modelled series, as well as proximal generalisation in non-modelled but comparable series, occurred and persisted in modelling groups. In addition, enduring distal generalisation to non-modelled verticality was found in both groups, although it was higher in the exemplary modelling group. A similar pattern was obtained in justification production. However, positive correlations between post-test performance and certainty rating were infrequent. It appeared that exposure to modelled enactment of the rule-governed horizontality responses was the critical training component that fostered genuine improvement.

Sex Roles and Sex Differences in Adult Spatial Performance

Abstract Several studies have reported that many college students perform inaccurately on Piaget's water-level task and that this is more often true of women than men. In the present study, the relationships between academic interests, sex roles, and performance on Piaget's water-level task were investigated. College students (N = 194) completed a paper-and-pencil water-level task, the Self Directed Search (SDS; a career interest inventory), and the Bem Sex Role Inventory. Results indicated significant sex differences and that performance was associated with academic skills and interests measured by the SDS. Contrary to previous studies, masculine sex roles did not significantly contribute to the explained variance in water-level task performance.

The relation between horizontality and rod-and-frame and vestibular navigational performance.

Sex differences on Piaget's water-level (horizontality) test are well established but poorly understood. In this article, correlates of female horizontality performance are systematically explored. Across the five experiments reported, it was found that female subjects who failed the water-level test (poor-horizontality female subjects) were selectively impaired on tasks that required processing information from the otolith organs. In Experiment 1, poor-horizontality female subjects were found to be impaired relative to good-horizontality subjects on the rod-and-frame test. In Experiment 2, a relation was found between female horizontality performance and the ability to process vestibular information in a passive transport task. Experiment 3 ruled out poor spatial updating as a mediating factor in this relation. The results of Experiments 4 and 5 indicated that poor-horizontality female subjects perform randomly on vestibular navigation because they cannot judge linear displacement under conditions of passive transport. The linear transport task is similar to the rod-and-frame task in that both require the central processing of otolith signals. It is proposed that one way to solve the water-level test is to imagine, on the basis of prior perceptual experiences, what the water level looks like inside tilted containers. Because of complex visual-otolith interactions, poor-horizontality female subjects may experience these events differently than good-horizontality subjects.

Individual differences in water-level task performance: A component-skills analysis

Over the past two decades, several studies have indicated that many adults have difficulty in demonstrating the concept that liquids remain invariantly horizontal and that this is more often true of women than men. Theoretical explanations for these differences have centered around biological and sociocultural hypotheses. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on individual differences in adult performance on Piaget's water-level task and to offer an interpretation based on a component-skills analysis of water-level task performance. Water-level task performance is reduced to the subabilities of (a) visualperceptual skills, (b) mental imagery and rotation skills, (c) utilization of spatial coordinate systems, and (d) recall of relevant information. The utility of a component-skills analysis in understanding water-level task performance is discussed.

Sources of error in the Piagetian water-level task.

Task materials were devised which allowed two different explanations of the Piagetian water-level task to be distinguished. Two experiments are reported with 5-6 and 7-8 year olds in which both a predictive and a perceptual task were used. The results support Ibbotson and Bryant's explanation that the performance of young children is affected by a perpendicular bias. This effect was weaker, particularly among 7-8 year olds, in the perceptual task.

Horizontality as a Function of Sex and Academic Major

A paper-and-pencil Piagetian water-level task was administered to 250 undergraduate students within 5 college majors: engineering, natural sciences, social sciences, business, and language arts. Analysis showed significant differences between sexes and college majors. Men were significantly more accurate than women within each college major, and science majors were more accurate than liberal arts majors within each sex. Caution against treating college students as a homogeneous population in research using a water-level task is suggested.