Cognitive Conflict and Conservation of Number Learning

This study was designed to investigate Piaget’s contention that cognitive conflict: prompts a more mature organization of thought. The literature has been divided about the effectiveness of cognitive conflict in fostering mental growth. Further, several recent articles have questioned whether present conflict training methods actually prompt appreciable conflict in the four to six year old children that have typically been used as Ss . Forty-one kindergartners were randomly assigned to three groups. The effectiveness of training was determined by increases in conservation of number learning (i.e., understanding that equally numbered sets can only be altered by addition or subtraction of elements and not by just changing the position of the elements). Piaget has indicated that such understanding typically marks acquisition of the more logical, comprehensive thought of middle childhood. The data indicated that conflict training did not prompt more conservation of number learning than equivalent control training. Such a result suggested that the earlier success of this training method was a consequence of practice in making numerical comparisons and not because of the arousal of cognitive conflict. Further, the fact that the comparison control group had a longer response latency than the conflict training group makes it seem doubtful that conflict training prompted appreciable cognitive conflict. The results in conjunction with the findings of recent studies make it seem doubtful that current intra-individual conflict training methods are useful with pre conservation children. However, socially generated cognitive conflict may prove effective with this population

The Legal and Ethical Limits of Technological Warfare Symposium: Roundtable Discussion Transcript

This article is a transcript of a roundtable discussion from the symposium, The Legal and Ethical Limits of Technological Warfare, February 1, 2013, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law

Roundtable Discussion Transcript: The Legal and Ethical Limits of Technological Warfare Symposium, February 1, 2013, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law

The Utah Law Review brought in a panel of experts for a symposium on the legal and ethical limits of technological warfare. This roundtable discussion crystalized the issues discussed throughout the symposium. The collective experience and diversity of viewpoints of the panelists produced an unparalleled discussion of the complex and poignant issues involved in drone warfare. The open dialogue in the roundtable discussion created moments of tension where the panelists openly challenged each other’s viewpoints on the ethics and legality of drone warfare. The discussion captured in this transcript uniquely conveys the diversity of perspectives and inherently challenging legal and moral questions associated with drone warfare