Experimental studies of competition

Abstract

(I) Problem. The general purpose of this investigation was to study the competition of preschool children. Although many studies of competition were already made, some of them, we found, were lacking in sufficient conditional analysis of competitive situation, others made no comparison with control groups, still others neglected statistical validation. Trying to correct these deficiencies, we made extensive studies on preschool children by studying them from genetic point of view on the one hand, and by investigating crosssectionally the relative dynamics of competitive situation on the other. Our studies were divided into three experiments (Exp. A, Exp. B, and Exp. C). The object of Exp. A was to study whether, in a given situation, competition exisited in all ages, and, if not, from which age the competitve tendencies appeared, and in what form of behavior they were materialized. In Exp. B, the group effects of 2 members were compared with those of 4 members and in Exp. C, the cooperation of members in non-competitive and competitive situations was studied. (II) Procedure and Method. These experiments were carried out in two kinder-gartens in Kyoto through 80 days during 1949 and 1950. As subjects, 343 boys and girls of the age 2-7 were used. The materials were Froebel's building blocks (20 blocks in Exp. A and 40 in B and C). Each experiment was divided into two parts, i.e. sub-experiment a (non-competitive situation) and sub-experiment b (competitive situation). In the former we gave no instructions of competition to children, forming the free building play situation, whereas in the latter we gave it in a following way: Now we wish to see who can build better. Children (one group of 2 in Exp. A one group of 4 in separate work in Exp. B and two groups of 2 each in Exp. C) were taken into the experimental room, where there was a pile of building blocks on the center of a table, and then they were invited to play with blocks. All kinds of children's behavior in these situations were recorded in the protocol sheets by two observers. © 1951, The Japanese Psychological Association. All rights reserved.