Results of two experiments with five-year-olds indicated that: (1) conservation can be quickly taught with lasting results; (2) training on a limited range of exemplars will produce generalized correct responses to other, untrained classes of conservation problems; and (3) children's explanations of their judgments change as a result of exposure…

Research supported by National Science Foundation grant GE-3 to the University of Minnesota.

The formal operations skills and problem solving performance of 60 gifted girls (grades 4 through 6) were investigated. Ss were given Piagetian tasks which involved conservation of mass and weight, use of proportion, oscillation of the pendulum, and projection of shadows. Among findings were the following: (1) no relationship between IQ and either…

Class inclusion problems differing in size of the array and in superordinate class were given to 84 boys and girls in grades 1 through 4 in a first experiment, and 41 boys and girls in grades 3 and 4 in a second experiment. The experiments sought to determine performance variables explaining the developmentally late appearance of class-inclusion…

The purpose of this study was to determine if an effective conservation training procedure would be one in which a child was confronted with opposing points of view. Subjects were 108 children with a mean age of 6.7 years. In two experiments, a group of three children (generally one nonconserver and two conservers) was required to respond with one…

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…

To investigate the development of function concepts and their relation to mathematical and logical abilities typically acquired during the age period of five to seven years, children were tested on nonnumerical function tasks, numerical tasks, and aspects of logical reasoning. (PCB)

Describes a study, involving 120 first grade children, which supports the hypothesis that the rate of attainment of conservation skills is significantly enhanced by experiences made possible by the first grade program of SCIS. Describes the six conservation tasks used for pre-tests and post-tests: number, liquid amount, solid amount, length,…

Studied discriminative and investigatory response behavior and effects of response training on children 4-5 to 6-5 years of age. (DR)

TO DETERMINE HOW TRAINING WOULD AFFECT CHILDREN FROM DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DEVELOPMENT, FIVE DISADVANTAGED AND FIVE ADVANTAGED PRESCHOOLERS WERE GIVEN SPECIFIC PROBLEM SOLVING TRAINING TO PREPARE TO SOLVE A CRITERION PROBLEM. THIS STUDY WAS AN ATTEMPT TO DISPROVE PIAGET'S THEORY THAT CHILDREN MUST HAVE REACHED A CERTAIN STAGE OF CONCRETE-OPERATIONAL…

This paper briefly reports on a series of studies that explore the relationship between symbolic or pretend modes of reasoning and cognitive processes which underlie conservation of quantity. It is hypothesized that the mental transformations which the child makes while playing a game of make-believe, namely, the transformation from his original…

A study was undertaken of the effects of formal education and conservation of numerousness on addition and subtraction problem types. Thirty-six kindergarten and 36 first-grade subjects randomly selected from one area of a school district were administered measures of conservation, problem-solving success, and modeling ability. Following factor…