Abstract
This report is intended to make clear the structural change in the developmental process of consciousness of relation.
As the problem for this experiment, the writer adopted a problem of arranging coloured disks. (see Fig. I, in the Japanese Text p.572)
The writer chose as subjects the school children of 1st and 2nd year classes and the kindergarten children.
Results of experiment.
1. Consciousness of relation develops with the advance in age. This fact is proved by the increase in percentage of the numbers of persons who solved. right, and by the decrease in varieties of arranged forms.
2. On the occasion of change in age from kindergarten to Primary school, the writer noticed a great jump in the development of this consciousness.
3. The writer found part B the most difficult. Especially in this part, the writer could see an important structural change of this consciousness as shown in Table 4. (See Japanese Text, p.575-6)
When one considers the structure of consciousness of relations taking the descriptions of children as the clues, it is possible to set up four developmental stages.
1. Stage of “at random”.
2. Stage of subjective principle.
Disregarding the objective relation, children solve the given problem according to their own preference.
3. Stage of objective principle.
a) Stage of principle of connection.
Children solve the given problem as a range of independent disks.
b) Stage of principle of “Gestalt”.
Children grasp the given problem as the repetitions of “Gestalt”.
