Children completed three types of equivalent cardination tasks which assessed the influence of different stimulus configurations (linear, linear-nonlinear, and nonlinear), and density of object spacing. Prior results reported by Siegel, Brainerd, and Gelman and Gallistel were not replicated. Implications for understanding cardination concept…

Several experiments with 8- to 9-year-old children are reported to demonstrate that "decalage" observed between success in problems of conservation of weight, volume, and density is due to the different task situation as presented by Piaget and Inhelder. (Author)

Assessed the authenticity of conservation attainment through an observational learning paradigm. First grade children (N=60) were exposed to either a peer or adult model who was either present or absent during a series of tasks. No correlation was found between social influence and observational acquisition of conservation. (Author/JAC)

Programed instruction accelerated the ability of 62 children, ages four to six, in acquiring the concept of number conservation. (CP)

Dutch researchers investigated the effects of Obuchova's method of teaching measurement to kindergarten children with no knowledge of conservation or seriation. Results indicated training was highly effective. Skills were transferred to conservation tasks not taught in training. Transfer to concepts not included in training was also observed. (SM)

Fourth-grade control students were given a multiple-choice problem involving conservation of weight. Experimental group subjects were given a fictitious choice response distribution with conflicting reasons. Curiosity for confirmation, progress in generalizing the principle of conservation, and positive correlation between curiosity and progress…

Findings that six-year-old children perform substantially better in a conservation of number task if they are asked one question instead of two were upheld when mass and volume materials were used and the age range of subjects was extended to include five- through eight-year-old children. (RH)

Two experiments tested whether children fail to make transitive inferences because they forget the premises. Children did not justify incorrect inferences by incorrect premises. Results between nontransitive and transitive inferers parallelled similar studies with nonconserver- conserver dyads and were viewed as reinforcing the commonality between…

Investigates the extent of similarity in the sequence of development of concepts in children with Down's Syndrome, children with other forms of retardation, and nonretarded children. (Author/BB)

This study investigates the relationship between Ghanaian children's acquisition of conservation and their age, parental profession and schooling or lack of schooling. Subjects were 120 females, 40 in each of three age groups (6-7, 8-9 and 10-11 years). Half of the subjects in each group had parents in traditional African professions such as…

Conservation judgments are based on a combination of logical necessity and empirical belief. Results of two experiments support the view that the logical aspect of conservation is developmentally stable, while the empirical aspect varies widely across problems and individuals because of its dependence on relevant experience. (Author/RD)

A general theory of how children learn conservation concepts is presented. The acquisition process is described at an abstract level in terms of a rule-sampling system, implying a three-state Markov model with identifiable parameters. Three experiments testing the model's quantitative predictions about conservation learning experiments are…

The amount of social pretend play in free-play sessions of small groups of five to seven year olds, and the symbolic features of this play, were noted. Conservation, verbal symbol substitution, and role-playing skills, were assessed as measures of cognitive symbolic skill. Results provide no evidence that these social class differences reflect…

A study was made to examine effects of peer collaboration on children's cognitive development and to ascertain whether effects of collaboration varied across American and Russian cultures. A total of 84 girls and boys (42 from a kindergarten in Moscow and 42 from an elementary school in Ithaca, New York), 5 through 7 years of age, initially…