Over 1000 out of 4000 preschoolers observed conserved identity of matter over time and roughly two-thirds of the 1000 also conserved equivalence. Follow-up showed no correlation between kindergarten conservation abilities and grade one math performance but significant correlations between equivalence conservation by end of kindergarten and grade…

Two studies demonstrated dissociation between preschoolers' understanding of pictorial and mental representations. Results showed that false picture tasks were significantly easier than false belief tasks. There was no correlation between performance on the two. Children were trained on false belief, false picture, or number conservation tasks;…

Two studies explored the possibility of inducing conservation understanding in intellectually normal preschoolers and mildly mentally retarded children of comparable mental age. Retarded children, MA 3-10 to 5-0, received Verbal Rule instruction. Three- and 4-year-old children were given Verbal Rule training in a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design…

The effects of instruction in the Piacceleration Program (PXL), a hands on mastery-based program of instruction in Piagetian skills, on the acquisition of skills of classification, seriation, and conservation were studied with 28 Head Start students of Hispanic origin and 28 comparisons. PXL students did perform better on these skills. (SLD)

This paper presents three research studies. The first study investigated the use of boys' and girls' play areas, each stocked with sex-type toys, by day care children with male, female, or mixed teacher teams. Examined were the sex of play areas users and the effect of sex of teacher team on the structure of play in each play area. The second…

This study investigates the development of mathematical ability and understandings and explores the use of math games as part of a global model of preschool program evaluation. Eighty-three children (aged 3 3/4 to 4 years) enrolled in several programs in the Mt. Druitt Early Childhood Project, North Ryde, Australia, participated in the study.…

The papers in this document represent preliminary results of a study which is part of a 3-year project being conducted by the Educational Testing Service in cooperation with the New York City Board of Education, with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. This document is divided into seven sections: (1) Introduction, (2)…

Through seriation, verbal seriation, and conservation tasks, investigated blind, partially sighted, and sighted children's understanding of quantity. Subjects were 81 children equally dispersed through these 3 groups. Age range was 4 to 17 years. Found similarity in concept acquisition among three groups that extended beyond quantity conservation…

Research supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation.

This study is one of a series which attempts to arrive at generalizations about the learning of mathematics and the use of its terminology in the context of mathematical structure by young children. The first half of the document describes an experimental training program designed to integrate mathematical concepts of metric space, arc length, and…

This bibliography has been compiled to alert educators to documents about concept development in young children, particularly the development of number concepts found in the ERIC microfiche collection and in journal literature. Abstracts of selected documents were taken from "Research in Education (RIE)" and journal article citations from the…

Representational competence refers to the individual's capability to respond appropriately to external representations. For example, a child engaged in a grouping task may collect together all like objects even if the group contains varying representations of the object, including (1) the object itself, (2) a three-dimensional likeness of the…

The four purposes of this study were (1) to test the long-range effects of classification training (CT) on disadvantaged black children, (2) to evaluate the effects of reintroducing CT to those previously trained, (3) to compare CT at two age periods (5 and 6 years old), and (4) to compare CT with attention training (AT). Of the 69 children used…

While the purpose of this project was curriculum development, long range benefits are contingent upon a radical reorganization and upgrading of public school systems throughout Appalachia. Subjects in the pilot assessment consisted of 80 children (3 1/2 to 6 1/2 years old) and their mothers from each of Monongalia and Upshur Counties, West…

A second year of experimental research on young children examined the instructional power of television in facilitating the acquisition of cognitive skills. In addition, researchers investigated the efficiency of an instructional support system designed to maximize the results of educational television. Subjects were three- to five-year-old Native…