The present study was designed to explore the relationship between the theoretical models of cognitive development proposed by L. S. Vygotsky and J. Piaget. One hundred and four subjects aged four to sixteen years were selected. All subjects were in the average range of intelligence, were in the usual school grade for their age, and had no history…

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the relationship between the acquisition of conservation skills and achievement in mathematics. The conservation skills measured were numbered, mass, area and volume. Mathematics achievement was measured by the Computation, Concepts, Problem-Solving and Total Mathematics scores on the Metropolitan…

The purpose of the present experiment was to investigate whether the effect of observing a peer who was conserving could facilitate subsequent acquisition and transfer of conservation ability in a nonconserving child. Eighty-two nonconserving first grade children acquired the ability to give conservation judgments and reasons on six conservation…

This investigation was an attempt to determine the best predictors of behavior, explanation, and composite scores for conservation of two-dimensional space, substance, continuous quantity and weight in non-retarded and retarded children. The subjects were 60 non-retarded children randomly selected from grades K-2 in one school, and 58 children…

Great potential exists for saving energy and operating costs with a wide variety of heat conservation systems. Two major electric services--space conditioning and lighting--afford cost and energy savings opportunities. These services are detailed in checklist fashion in this brochure, with the suggestions included under space conditioning…

Based on the work of Bruner, Piaget and others that indicates that the child's attention to misleading visual clues is an important factor in his lack of ability to conserve, this study is an attempt to demonstrate the effects of instruction in drawing two-dimensional figures on the ability of children (22 kindergarten children from middle class…

Forty kindergarten children at the Stephen Bull School in Racine, Wisconsin were tested to determine the effects of a sequence of 12 experimental lessons on the ability of kindergarten children to recognize and conserve numerousness. Subjects were 40-low-to-middle socioeconomic level children divided into treatment and control groups. A specially…

The study attempted to trace the relationship between facility with cardinal-ordinal aspects of number; attention to dimensions of number, length, and density; and the presence and absence of number conservation. On the basis of performances on the standard test for number conservation, 25 nonconserving kindergarteners, 34 conserving…

Piagetian conservation tasks in relation to standard intelligence tests with mildly mentally retarded students from different ethnic groups were investigated. Seventy-five boys between the ages of 10 and 15, who scored between 65 and 80 on the WISC, were studied. Elkind's procedures for conservation of substance, weight, and volume were used.…

Although they have limited academic ability, mentally retarded children may be quite adept at social interaction or physical, artistic, or other tasks. Research was conducted to examine the creative, self-concept, and impulsive characteristics of MR pupils and to examine and compare, as to age and intellectual development, the performance of both…

The objective of the study was to develop a test of concept formation which would: (1) not be biased by reading difficulty; (2) be sufficiently stimulating to capture the attention of the students; (3) incorporate both aspects of concept formation of discriminative response and conservation; (4) have a spread of item difficulty appropriate for…

Reported is a study of the development of conservation and measurement concepts, with reference to certain task factors which may affect performance. A group of 129 first and second graders were given a test of conservation and measurement consisting of five problem types crossed with three transformation types. The problems all involved moving…

A group of 47 kindergarten and first grade children from a school chiefly composed of Negro children from low-income families was involved in this study which followed a Solomon four group design. All children received a pretreatment of 17 lessons on matching relations and length relations. The pretest group was then given six tests on relations,…

Data were collected on tactics used when making a sequence of set comparisons in terms of more or equal number. (MP)

A recently developed test of basic Piagetian abilities, the Colored Blocks Test, is described, and new data collected in rural Hawaii and in a working class Chicago suburb are used to defend its validity as a tool for cross-cultural measurement of cognitive development. (Author/AM)