Tower of Hanoi: normative data and evolutionary development of planning

Abstract

The study focused on planning development in children of elementary grades and in the standardization of the test for the planning assessment “Tower of Hanoi”. A sample of 1.032 was selected 1 st to 6 th grade belonging to schools in the Canary Islands with an age range between 6 years and 3 months old to 12 years and 4 months old. We analyzed the number of designs correctly in different grades. We found that there are three different moments in planning development: 1 st grade children were different from the rest of the grades; whereas children of 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th grades were more similar; and children of 5 th and 6 th grades between them. We also found a gradual improvement in planning function of age. Furthermore, “Tower of Hanoi” scales are presented for children of elementary grades.