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Learning Theory and Concepts

Three Mountain Problem

Foundational and Developmental Learning Concepts

The Three Mountain Problem, also known as the Three Mountains Task, is a task devised by the Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget to test whether a child's thinking was egocentric. Piaget used the task as an indicator of whether a child had reached the preoperational or the concrete operational stage in his theory of cognitive development.

Facts
Core Claim
The Three Mountain Problem was devised by Piaget to test whether a child's thinking was egocentric, which was also a helpful indicator of whether the child was in the preoperational stage or the concrete operational stage of cognitive development. 1
Origin Year
1956 1
Marks the year of Piaget and Inhelder original study, per the Wikipedia article own account of the age pattern found in the 1956 study.
Connections

Associated With

The task was Piaget own method for empirically locating the boundary between the preoperational and concrete operational stages of his stage theory.

Source Three Mountain Problem (Wikipedia)

Developed By

Jean Piaget, Thinkers
Source Three Mountain Problem (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Three Mountain Problem (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • During Concrete Operational Stage section
    This was evidenced by the consistent and correct selection of photographs by seven- and eight-year-olds in the 1956 study.
  • Lead section, second sentence
    The Three Mountain Problem was devised by Piaget to test whether a child's thinking was egocentric, which was also a helpful indicator of whether the child was in the preoperational stage or the concrete operational stage of cognitive development.
  • Developed By: Jean Piaget, Lead section, first sentence
    The Three Mountains Task was a task developed by Jean Piaget, a developmental psychologist from Switzerland.
  • Associated With: Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development, Lead section
    which was also a helpful indicator of whether the child was in the preoperational stage or the concrete operational stage of cognitive development.
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