C H A P T E R - II

Theoretical Foundation of the Study

2.00 Introduction

2.10 Review of Relevant Literature on Conservation

2.11 Conservation of substance

2. 111 Effect of Age on conservation

2.112 Effect of Sex on conservation

2.113 Effect of schooling/education on conservation

2.114 Effect of SES on conservation

2.115 Effect of culture'on conservation

2.116 Effect of communication on conservation

2.117 Effect of Motivation/Incentive on conservation

2.118 Effect of C0 gnitive Sty1e/Cognitive Maturityfi.Q. on conservation

2.119 Effect of Deformation on conservation

2.120 Effect of Training/Interaction on conservation

2.121 Effect of Compensation on· conservation

2.122 Relationship studies on conservation

2.20 Resume on the Review of Rel.evant Literature

2.30 Rationale for selecting the Present Study.

39

CHAPTER- II

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE STUDY

2.00 Introduction

A scientific analysis and precise account of the

relevant studies conducted by pre-investigators on the

material topic of research equip the investigator to plan,

proceed and operate the research under study insightfully and

systematically. In fact, a systematic resume of the relevant

studies lays the very foundation of research, provides a

direction to the researcher in designing, developing and

executing his study. The investigator, therefore, made a

conscious effort to make a brief review of the available

relevant literature on the material topic.

Studies cited in this Chapter have been adapted from

two main sources of world literature - (i) American Psycho­

logical Abstracts (from 1980 to 1989) and (ii) Annual Review

of Psychology (from 1980 to 1989) in addition to others.

In view of the fact that the present study deals with

'C0 nservation', we have analyzed the review under the heads

as given below:

2.10 Review of Relevant Literature on Conservation

Though studies on conservation have been available

on its various aspects, viz. conservation of substance,

40

conservation of number, conservation of space and geometry,

conservation of logic, conservation of equivalence, conserva­

tion of causation, etc. we have restricted the review of

relevant literature only to conservation of substance and

conservation of number in view of their relevance with the

present study. The reviews on conservation of substance and

conservation of number have been :further analysed as tmder:

2.11 Review of Relevant Literature on Conservation of Substances:

2.111 Effect of age on conservation

2.112 Effect of sex on conservation

2.113 Effect of schooling/education on conservation

2.114 Effect of SES on conservation

2.115 Effect of culture on conservation

2. 116 Ef:t: ect of communication on conservation

2.117 Effect of Motivational Incentive on conservation

2.118 Effect of Cognitive Style/Cognitive Maturityfi.Q. on conservation

2.119 Effect of Deformation on conservation

2.120 Effect of Training/Interaction on conservation.

2.121 Effect of compensation on conservation

2.122 Relationship studies on conservation

Review o:f existing relevant literature has

been systematically presented as under:

Piaget and Inhelder ( 1958) reported on the basis of

their empirical studies that at the out set children's concepts

41

of quantity are global and undifferentiated. In other words,

children do not have discrete end distinct concepts of mass,

weight, volume, etc. initially. The quantitative concept of

mass is first to appear as a separate concept from the

undifferentiated whole. Later, children are able to attest

to the invariance of mass in the face of transformations or

deformations in form or shape. Later concept of quantity

concepts of weight and volume separate into two rational

concepts. The Piagetion school of Thought on conservation

and other cognitive development have been further supported

and promoted by Inhelder (1940, 1958, 1960), Flavell (1963),

Lovell (1960, 1961), Elkind (1961), Smedshind {1961) and

others.

2.111 Effect of Age on conservation of substance:

A number of studies have been made to replicate

Piaget•s findings regarding the invariant development sequ­

ence of quantity conservation, viz., conservation of substance,

weight and volume. Most studies tended to support the

conclusion, regarding the sequence of conservation skills but

have not confirmed the particular age period prescribed by

Piaget. Thus much work centered round the verification of the

question of invariance of the developmental sequence - a key

proposition in the Piagetian system. This sequence referred

to has a horizontal 1 decalage 1 which 11 refers to a repetition

which takes place within a single period in development

(Flavell, 1953, p. 22) 11• Using the suage experiment to test

42

5 - 12 yr old children, Piaget (1959, 1958) found that disco­

veries of conservation followed a regular order that was

related to age. The conservation of mass was discovered at

ages 7-8, weight at ages 9-10 and volume at ages 11-12. These

findings, together with the theoretical discussion have been

reported by Piaget with the aid of a great many illustrative

examples but without statistics" (David Elkind, 1951, pp. 219-

227). The repetition which takes place oan be described, as

the child acquiring the concept of conservation of mass that

is the awareness of invariance of the quantity of mass, acquires

cognitive operations which he will eventually employ in the

acquisition of the conservation of weight, and £inally of

volume.

Bovet, Magali et al. (1986) replicating a study by

Plight et al. (see PA vol. 65, 7693) to determine whether

Piaget' s constructiV:ist concept of conservation is possible

at earlier ages than previously believed. ResUlts indicate

that when a conservation of number task was given as described

by Plight, findings were similar, correct answers were

obtained at younger ages. When Ss were asked to justify their

answers, they, however, changed their judgement .from correct

answers to non-conservation judgements. It is suggested that

the phenomenon that the researchers have studied, is not the

same conservation that Piaget studied; thus differences in

conceptions of conservation might have led to differences not

only in methods but also in criteria of evaluation and in

interpretation.

43

Martin ( 1951) studied 3-7 years old children (N .. 150)

and found that with increasing age, children improved in

their ability to handle concepts of number, size and quantity.

But Estes (1956) found no evidence supporting Piaget•s

theory regarding the developmental stages through various

levels o:t age in the acquisition o:t concept properties.

Higgins, Trenk and Looft (1971) reported that more

subi)ects success:fUll.y responded to the conservation tasks

with increasing age. ResUlts of Bat;.Hace and Hasseini ( 1971)

corroborated Piaget•s description of the sequential develOP­

ment of conservation of mass, weight and volume.

Vernon (1972) reported a significant positive

relationship between age and problem solving in conservation

problems of increasing order of difficulty, Hood (1962)

observed- that children with M.A. of less than 5 years almost

never showed conservation but chil.dren with M.A. of 8 or more

years were almost always conservers. Goldschmid (1967)

reported similar results. Almy, Chittenden and Miller ( 1966)

reported that conservation was attained a year later by the

l.ower SES class children than by the middle SES children and

that this might be attributed to language deficiency.

Lovell and Ogilvie (1961) also agree with the

Piaget•s original findings but the resUlts obtained did

neither strictly agree with that of Piaget nor did they

enable to prove or disprove the assumption that the child

arrives at the concept of conservation when he is able to

41

arrange l.ogicelly in concrete situation. On the contrary,

they show that three stages postul.ated .for each quantity sub­

type by Piaget; viz., non-conservation transitional conserva­

tion and complete conservation are not sharply defined, nor

are they distinct category. Elk£nd's (1961) .findings

confirmed the Piagetian sequence of discovery o.f conserva­

tion o.f quantity. Mass is conserved earlier than weight and

weight is conserved prior to volume conservation.

The study by Bat, Hsee and Hosseini (1971) also

confirmed Piaget' s description o.f the sequential. development

of conservation of mass, weight and volume. Elkind and

Schoen.fel.d (1972) studied conservation of weight. The resuJ.t

did not confirm Piaget' s (1957, 1958) sequence. Brekke Johnson,

Williams and Morrison ( 1976) investigated the rel.ationship

between giftedness and conservation of weight. Children aged

9 - 12 years were tested on a series of tasks designed to

measure conservation o.f weight. They observed that the gifted

and the non-gifted group did not di.f.fer significantly with

respect to age and sex; nor degree of conservation.

Rao (1976) investigated development of conservation

of quantity (mass, weight and vol.ume) in 4 - 8 years olds.

A .factorial. design was used with sex, SES, age and testing

conditions as the variabl.es, Ss were tested on mass, weight

and vol.ume using three types of materials. Resul. ts indicated

that subject's conservation scores generally increased with

45

age. The scores were generally higher for mass than for

weight and volume; and the conservation of weight remained ' , , ' I

generally the same between the age of 4 and 5. Beyond 'j1/2

years, there was a discernible improvement in conservation.

Volume scores were low until the age of seven; after that

there was insignificant increase in conservation of substances.

Muhar and Jain ( 1969) conducted study on subjects

between the age group of 6· and 11 and reported that conserva­

tion of quantity grew at an earlier age in urban pupils.

Cb_ild and Youth Research Centre of Phillippine

conducted a study in ( 1971) over 5 - 12 years olds employing

Piagetian tasks. · The study was designed to measure conser­

vation of mass, continuous quantity, number correspondence,

volume, area, etc. -·Results indicated. that the Ss between

5 - 8 years olds failed to conserve. Ss between 9 and 11

years old demonstrated reversibility identity perspective

taking characteristics of concrete operation. They observed

older age than reported by Piaget.

Vernon (1972) held that the conservation of solid and

liquid quantity depends on the individUal's capac! ty to handle

progressively non-complex information in displays of increas­

ing complexity and that there was a significant positive

relationship between age and solving, Conservation problems

of increasing difficulty levels. Confirming the results of

Piaget's findings, Pratoomraj and Johnson (1966) found that

there was an increase in conservation with age and reported

4G

that the kind of question asked had very little effect on the

types of conservation tasks.

Elkind and Schoenfeld ( 1972) employing 4 different

tests for conservation of number of liquid quantities of mass

and of length, obtained results showing that older children

were better conservers than younger children. Conservation

o:f identity was easier than conservation of equivalence,

Some types of quantity were easier to conserve than others.

The difference between identity and equivalence conservations

was most pronounced in young children.

Vernon and Simpson (1968) replicated the study of

Smedslund regarding the acquisition of conservation of

substance and weight in children. Boys perfomed better

under active than passive conditions while girls performed

better under passive conditions than active. Fogelman (1970)

reported that girls gave more adequate explanations under

passive than active conditions. Pratoomraj and Johnson (1966)

reported that sex differences were insignificant in the

attainment of conservation.

Following Piaget's procedure and tasks, Shukla, J.~.

( 1980) found insignificant difference between the means of

various age groups on conservation of mass and weight of solid

and liquid. However, some significant differences have been

observed on conservation 1n volume of solid and a few of

liquid.

47

. Selzer, s. Claire and Denney, Nancy ( 1980) compared

the conservation abiJ.ities of 48 middle aged and elderly

adults using a 3 (non institutionalized middle aged non­

institutionalized elderly and institutionalized elderly x

x (male and female) x 3 (substance, weight and volume conser­

vation x 2 {judgement and explanation responses) factorial

design. Results of both l!NOVA and correlational analysis

indicated that age was not significantly related to conser­

vation performance; nor were signif'icant institutionaliza­

tion or sex effect obtained. However, correlational analysis

yielded a significant positive relationship between education

and conservation.

Prolinsky and Hughston (1978) tested elderly males

for their ability to conserve mass, surface area and volume.

Archenbach (1969) devised 4 conservation on tasks for length,

area and volume and studied subjects' spontaneous grasp of

relevant dimensional concepts. The l:evel of conservation

eXPlanations were similar for ages, mental ablli ty and race.

!Jo evidence for a horizontal decalage was fotmd.

Protinsky Howard 0, and Hughston (1980) employed

(N = 70) 18 - 23 years old female under graduates to deter­

mine whether the procedure used had an effect on ability to

conserve. Results revealed that the water displacement test

of c.s. Lavatells and R. Karplus (1966) was significantly

more difficult (63% passed) than 0. Elkind's (1961) (91% passed)

or J. Piaget's test (100% passed).

48

Kayo Fumio (1982) conducted studies on 1st, 3rd and

5th graders (N • 54) and asked them to make judgements of

quantity for materials that differed along dimensions; such

as number, volume, length and thickness. Ss were not told

the specification on ~ich to base their judgement. Almost

none of_ the 1st graders asked :for clarification and most

made a rapid judgement on the basis of an unstated stand

point. Results suggested that school age children gradually

develop the ability to differentiate and contrast alter­

native means of quantifying stimuli.

Fortin Therianlt et al. (1978-79) attempted to

refine the evaluation of the level of development of the

child who showed inability to recognize the conservation of

quantity through an experimental study. The S at the pre­

operational level develops a form of conservation that

consists of recognizing the 2-:'dimensional nature of quantity

without being able to coordinate the dimensions as they vary

simultaneously. Analysis of task performance data by age

groups indicated that mastery of simple conservation consti­

tutes a real intermediate stage in the development of the

idea of conservation quantity.

Ducousso-Lacaze Alain (~984-85) examined the ability

of 3 - 9 yrs olds (N .. 70) to represent the property of weight

figuratively. Ss were shown and asked to draw 2 bottles.

The bottles were transformed into "sausages" as the Ss watched

and Ss were again asked to draw them. Bottle and sausage

49

drawing were compared and Ss were asked about the drawing

and the relationship between them. Responses were classi-

fied into 1 of 3 developmental levels. Overall. it appeared

that characteristic of Ss expressions of conservation of weight

constituted analogical or logical. statements.

Derr Alice M, (1985) investigated the development of

the cognitive stage of concrete operations specially conse~

vation in 22 learning disabled (LD) children between age

9 - 12 years who had significant deficits in mathematics

achievement and in 18 age matched controls with overage

achievement in Mathematics. Ss were given tests of conse~

vation. in 6 areas: 2-dimensional space, number substance,

continuous quantity, weight and dis.oontinuous quantity.

Significant group differences appeared indicating that many

(LD) Ss (50% had not yet developed the concept of conservation

even in the upper elementary grades. It is suggested that ..

such a log in cognitive development may constrict the ability

of LD children to understand mathematical instruction as it

is taught today.

Parral Dayan Silvia and Bovet Magal.i (1982) continued

the analysis under taken by Bovet et al. (Vol.. 68, 3245 PA)

of the role of situational context in solving number conser­

vation. The study of the eXPeriment on accidental. conserva­

tion by J. Me Garrigl.e and M. Donaldson (PA Vol.. 55, 9442)

was replicated. The authors concluded that this situational

context favours early correct responses of a partially

operator,y nature.

50

Lindsay, D. Stephen and Creedon Carol P ( 1985)

investigated the development of Piagetian conservation

using a procedure adapted from E. Mermelstein arid L.S.

Shulman employing 39 kindergarten and 3rd grade children.

They were exposed to 1 of 2 apparent violations of conser­

vation or to a transformation in which conservation was

preserved. In the 'violation conditions water attained

either the same or higher level in a wider container,

than it had in a narrower container. The dependent measures

were Ss (a) predictions of the outcome of the trans.fomation,

(b) spontaneous reactions and verbal explanations of the

actual outcome and (c) responses to conventional conserva­

tion questions. Findings suggested that Ss gradually

progressed from 4 ·stage at which they remained constant

and based judgement of quantitative relation on' water level

alone to a stage at which they viewed reciprocal compensa­

tion and conservation as logically necessary. Findings

indicated that although some 3rd grade Ss had attained the

later stage, many had not.

Vine, Kenneth ( 1985) attempted to identify the

higher level knowledge (e.g. conservation of number) nece­

ssary for a child to understand linear measurement and to

chart the growth of linear measurement in terms of the

development of its components. To assess the presence of

these components a battery of 34 number length and distance

tasks was developed and administered to 63 - 78 month old

51

(N = 100). Results indicated a substantial delay between

acquisition of the necessary components and emergence of a

mature group of linear measurement.

Parrat Dayan Silvia Del a ( 1982) examined the rela­

tionship between the structuring activity of 4 - 12 years

old children and the experimental situation with reference

to 2 kinds of fractions (object and relation) observed during

the development of conservation. This distinction allowed

an analysis that goes beyond the simple presence ordosence

of an understanding of conservation in the child.

Stary, Ruth and Stachel, Dina (1985) examined

. children • s understanding of changes in the state of matter

from solid to liquid as well as their understanding of the

reversibility of this process. Ss (N = 225) from kinder­

garten through junior high school (aged 5 - 15 yrs old) were

tested for their ability to recognize weight conservation in

tasks using broken plasticine pieces and mel ted candles.

The results proved that Ss who recognized weight conservation

in the task using plasticine pieces did not necessarily

recognize the same in the task using mel ted candles. Ss

believe that when solid substances are melted they changed

to water and that the melted liquid weight was found to be

less than the substance in its solid form. In addition, Ss

who recognized weight conservation in the task using a melted

candle were not always aware of the revef'sibili ty o! this

process.

1a~11 n:rmmn mnm~ MJM/111 T 13322

52

Kechakmadze I.K. (1984) studied the level of cogni­

tive development. They explained Piagetian stage theory to

6-7 years old pre-school children (N a 1000). Conservation

experiments were used to investigate the level of under­

standing of quantity permanence at the preoperational stage.

Ss were divided into 2 groups on the basis of preparatory

background, those who had 2 years of formal pre-school

education and those who had no schooling. Both groups were

tested at the beginning and at the end of the 1st school

year. Results revealed that at the 1st testing both groups

were at the same level of cognitive development whereas at

the 2nd testing, the test was completed successfully by 50%

of the Ss in the former group vs 35.5% in the latter group.

Kingma, Johannes and Loth Franciska L. ((\984) investi­

gated the development of the comprehension of the relational.

terms more less and some in a broad range of concept areas

commonly used in conservation and seriation research and

explored whether symmetry and synonym! ty 'Would be observed

among 192 kindergarteners divided into 3 age groups - 52.2,

62.6 and 68.6 months. Ss were shown an array of objects and

asked which one was the same more or less than the target

object for 8 concept areas including number, proportion,

weight volume, distance-substance area and length. Results

showed ceiling effects in all concept areas except volume for

Ss in the two older groups. The asymmetry phenomenon (i.e.

more is easier than less) was nqt evident in the youngest

groop. .Analysis of the incorrect responses did not reveal

53

the synonymity phenomenon (i.e. less was interpreted as more).

However, another synonym! ty phenomenon was observed more and

less were interpreted as same and same was interpreted as

more which cannot be attributed only to guessinK because

multiple choice tasks were used.

Bat Haee and Hosseini (1971) tested 463 male and

345 female 6-12 year old chlldren for development of quanti.ty

conservation. The results confirmed Piaget 1 s description of

sequential development of conservation of mass, weight and

volume. Gil Gendia (1972) administered a series of conser­

va tion tasks to Negro, Indian and White children in the first

three grades. Significant differences were found between

Negro, Indian and White groups with regard to age of acquisi­

tion of conservation.

Uzgires (1964) obtained results which support Piaget's

theory of sequential intellectual development and also the

sequential attainment of conservation of substance weight and

volume in the same order in each individual with any type of

material.

Elkind ( 1961) reported findings which closely agreed

with Piagetian sequence of the discovery of the conservation

of quantity. Mass is conserved first followed by weight

and volume is conserved last. Elkind (1961a) tested 100

children between 5 - 8 years of age and reported results

broadly in agreement with those of Piaget.

51 Me Shane John and Morrison David L. (1983) conducted

two experiments on 156 Ss of 3 - 4.5 years old who performed

compensation and conservation of liquid task. Exp. I demon­

strated an apparent precocity and a decline with age in the

ability to judge correctly when different sized glasses

contained the same amount of liquid. Exp. II revealed that

Ss of different ages used different strategies to make judge­

ments of equality. Results suggested that: ( 1) the success

of younger Ss was not due to precocious logical abilities or

the use of proprooceptive cubes and (2.) Ss first used a

relative fullness rule that was later replaced by a height

role. Findings contradicted V. Wakesctine and c. Sinha's

( 1977) claim that 35 years old children are capable of making

judgement of compensation.

Piaget (1952) distinguished between the acquisition

of number concepts and arithmetic achievement in the child's

conception of number.

Number is organized, stage after stage in close conne­

ction with the gradual elaboration of systems of inclusions

(hierarchy of logical classes) and systems of assymmetrical

relation (qualitative situations). "The sequence of numbers,

thus, resulting from an operational synthesis of classifica­

tion and seriation - logical and arithmetical operations

therefore, constitutes a single system that is psychologically

natural, the second resulting from generalization and fusion

of the first11• (Piaget, 1952, p. 8). It is, thus, evident

55

that the evaluation of the number concept followed a stage

sequence and is intimately related to acquisition of quality

since the child can only understand quantification (number)

when he is capable of preserving wholes (conservation).

Numerical conceptions are also linked to the development of

the complementary logical operations of classification and

seriation,

Brainerd (1973) reported that number conservation

was developmentally prior to liquid and quantity conservation.

Nadel and Schoeppe (1973) replicated Elkind's study of

quantity conception in adolescents. Girls at grade VIII were

tested with Piagetian tasks to determine their conceptions

of mass, weight and volume, The results were strikingly

parallel to those of Elkinds. OnlY 2996 of the subjects with

a mean age of 13.6 years attained the concept of conservation

of volume.

Piaget's work with children on the conservation of

number has been replicated by numerous investigators. Mehler

and Bever ( 1967) examined the level of understanding the

number conservation in children aged 2 years 4 months to

4 years and 7 months. The finding showed an indication that

Piaget's linear developmental growth sequence needs further

empirical study. In Piaget' s research children younger than

4 years were not assumed to be able to work with conservation

of number conservation since his 4 years olds did not demon­

strate this ability. Dodwell (1960, 1961) made two large

5G

studies of number conservation. In the :first study he used

individual tests with kindergarten first grade and second

grade Canadian children while in second, he employed the

group presentation of' the materials and obtained results

similar to those in individually adlllinistered :tests. He

concluded that the three stages, Piaget had specified in

number conservation had been shown to exist.

Keats (1955) used subjects ranging in age from 9 to

15 years for comparison of abilities to use concrete opera­

tional versus :formal operational stages in solving numerical

problems. He found that the mere abstract formulation was

achieved only by the students who had already been able to

solve the more concrete examples in Arithmetic and probabi­

lities but not in case of inequalities.

Elkind ( 1964) .found that there existed an essential

unity between conceptual and numerical ability which are

derived from an internalization o:f' the child's classif~catory

and ordering action that become an integrated set o:f' mental

operation with logical characteristics.

Frank (1964) tested 4 years old children on the basic

theme of ·conservation of continuous quantity(liquid).

Me Shane, John et al. ( 1985) conducted two experiments

on 115 Ss divided into 3 age groups (3 yrs 4 month to 3 yrs

11 months, 4 yrs to 4 yrs 6 months and 4 yrs 7 months to 5 yrs

2 months) and observed that the phenomenon that Ss below the

age of 4 yrs are more likely to judge liquid quantity on the

57

basis of the relative fullness of two containers than on the

heights of the liquid column. Results showed that when

relative :fullness in formation was available, Ss below the

age of 4 yrs performed significantly better than older Ss.

An explanation that young Ss use a relative :fullness rule is

constructed with an explanation based on stimulus salience.

It is argued that young children do not use a single strategy

but rather their judgements are determined by salient

stimulus dimensions.

Galler, Janina, R. and Ramsey Frank, A. ( 1987)

conducted a study in which performance on Piagets conserva­

tion tasks of graded difficulty was measured in 129 Barbadian

school children (aged 9-15 yrs) with histories of protein

energy, malnutrition in the 1st year of life. They employed

129 matched Ss. Previously malnourished Ss below the age of

13 years showed delays in performing conservation tasks.

However, a:t:ter age 14, this difference was no longer apparent

in contrast to persistent deficits in I.Q. in the same Ss.

Direct comparison of performance on the Piaget tests and on

I.Q. in individual Ss confirmed that these 2 measures test

different intellectual skill. Environmental conditions

measured concurrently had an effect on conservation scores

although a significant effect from the early history of

malnutrition even when the environmental factors were

controlled.

58

Gulko Judith et al. ( 1988) examined developmental

patterns in conservation skills in 390 children (aged 4 yrs

1 month to 11 years) in Nursary school and explanation were

elicited for 7 conservation tasks assessing concepts from

number to volume, Findings showed that across all ages,

judgement only and judgement plus-examination scores were

highly correlated. The greatest increment in conservation

skill occurred between kindergarten and Grade 1 with some

further increase between Grade 1 and 3 or 4. Conservation

of substance, namely, discontinuous quantity, continuous

quantity and weight were always more difficult than area and

easier than volume.

Kale, s.v., Danke, V.D. (1974) tested 664 subjects

from the Bombay industrial (N = 312) and non-industrial

(N = 352) areas and prepared developmental norms for 51f2

to 111f2 yrs, The variables studied were: age, grade, sex,

socio-economic status, school type, intelligence, parent­

child interaction, language achievement, arithmetic achieve­

ment, social maturity and cognitive development with special

reference to conservation ability. The latter consisted of

concept of number, quantity, weight, area, length and volume.

I.Q, was measured with Porteus Maze Test. The results

relating to cognitive development indicated: a positive

relationship between cognitive development as tested by

Piaget tasks and language development (r "' + ,2683) and

(ii) mathematics achievement (r = + .0892), (iii) social

58

maturity ( r a + • 2445) • There 1 s an age-grade sequence in

proportion of increase in conservation for each of the

Piaget type tasks. The decalage is seen in grade I students

among the concepts of mass, weight end volume. All Marathi

and Hindi medium students showed approximately curvilinear

relation of the cognitive development in relation of their

SES. Low positive relationships between cognitive develoP­

ment and I.Q. (overall r .. + .2862) end cognitive development

and parent child interaction (r = + .2744) were also observed.

Bertin ( 1977) conducted a developmental. study of

conservation of substance among dead end hearing subjects.

Sa were in the age group of 8 - 17 years. .AnaJ.ysis of the

data indicated that profoundly deaf Ss did not appear at a

disadvantaged position in developing en understanding of

conservation of substance. Swarson (1979) tested conserva­

tion of mass, weight and volume in partially sighted, sighted

Sighted blind foJ.ded Ss lagged behind than those of sighted

Ss.

Uzgiris (1964) investigated systematically the effect

of varying the materials used to test the conservation of

substance, weight and volume on the _observed sequential

attainment of these concepts. By and large, the results of

the study supported Piaget1 s theory of sequential intellectual

development as well as of sequential attainment of conserva­

tion of substance, weight and volume in the same order in

each individual with any material.

GO

Lovell and Ogilive (1961) studied the growth of the

concept of volume in junior school children and found that

interior occupied and displacement volume develops slowly

during the junior school period. The results of the study

support Piaget's findings (1957, 1958) pertaining to their

stages.

White and Michel (1978) examined Piaget•s sequence

of amount conservation employing l.iquid quanti ties and found

that older children were better conservers than the younger

ones. Nadel and Schoeppe (1973) tested ·. · VIIIth grade ·

girls for their conception of mass, weight and volume and

found that only 29% of subjects with a.mean age of 13.6 years

attained the concept of conservation of vol.ume.

2.112 Effect of Sex-Difference on conservation

Za'rour (1971) found that children showed better

ability to conserve with age and boys performed better than

the girl.s. Vernon and Simpson (1963) studied the acquisi­

tion of conservation of substance and weight among the

children of both the sexes. The performance of boys was

better under active than passive conditions. Pratoomraj

(1969) reported that sex differences were insignificant in

the attainment of conservation.

Silverman and Schneider (1968) found that though there

were no significant sex differences with age group 4-10 years,

however, the trend suggested that females may develop conser­

vation earlier.

61

Pulos Steven et al. (1982) indicated that males

generally perform better than females on tasks involving the

displaced volume concept, The present study examined whether

experience and/or aptitudes play parts in this differential

performance. 40 female and 41 mal.e 8th graders who failed

items on a group pretest of displaced volume were assigned

to training or control groups. Results showed that all

trained Ss improved in performance observation of facial

expressions and postures during training added to evidence

that mai:es and females responded similarly to training, The

control. group showed gains as well. Training effects did

not generalize to rel.ated tasks improvement.

Shukla, J ,P. (1980) studied sex differences in the

conservation of mass, weight and volume of solid and liquid

and found no significant sex difference between the scores

of boys and girls on various tests of conservation except in

the case of conservation of mass of liquid. Protinsky and

Hughston ( 1979) reported that most of the adol.escents fail.ed

in conservation of vol.ume test while they were successful in

conservation tests of mass and weight. Males perfonned

better than females on all tests. This indicates sex differ­

ence in conservation of substance. Sil vennan and Schneider

(1968) observed that females may develop conservation earlier

than males. The study by White and Friedman (1977) challenges

D. El.kind's (1961) widely cited report that a l.arge proportion

o:f col.l.ege students particularly females, can not conserve

G2

volume. Both male and female under graduates were tested

individually for conservation of volume and they observed

no sex differences. Further, out of sixty, there were only

two non-conservers.

Robinson, Shirley, L. Kirkpatrick et al. (1985)

investigated the influence of 2 biological correlates; namely,

eye class ( Hyopia or hyperopia) and sex on 11 female and

18 ma1es learning disabled children (aged 7- 13.years). Ss

performed 2 Piagetian tasks on conservation of volume and

were observed for over physiological behaviour indicators of

anxiety during task performances. No significance was noted

by eye class but a significant interaction of sex by task was

observed. Mean differed significantly by sex on the numbered

tasks. Boys overall and within each eye classification showed

higher frequencies of anxiety suggesting behaviors of on

numbered vs plain task. Myopic Ss demonstrated the lowest

mean frequency of behavioural indicators suggesting anxiety

on both numbered and plain tasks.

Yore Larry D. and Ollila Lloyd, 0. ( 1985) studied the

relationship of cognitive development (conservation of number,

liquid amount, length and solid amount, seriation of length

and horizontal-vertical reference frames) to treatment by

sex and initial cognitive development in 83 Canadian 1st

graders. 26 Ss (13 male and 13 female) were assigned to the

trained group and 57 Ss (46 males and 11 females) to the

control group (aged 5 yr 9 month to 6 yr 9 month at the

63

beginning of grade 1) selected Piagetian tasks were adminis­

tered to all Ss. Results indicated sizable cognitive growth

during 1st grade for all Ss. Females showed better cognitive

development than males. Hamel (1971) supported Bruner's

results that recognition of identity precedes the recognition

of quantitative equivalence. He also found that conservation

responses were furthered by reminding the subject before hand

of the sameness of the water in the container which changes

in appearance. Za' rour ( 1971) found that children showed

better ability to conserve with age and boys performed better

than the girls.

2.113 Effects of Schooling/Education/Learning experience/

Familiar! ty on Conservation:

Shukla, J.P. (1980) studied the effect of schooling

on conservation properties and found significant difference

between means of distant grades. However, he did not observe

any significant difference between immediate grades on various

measures of conservation in mass, weight and volume of solid

and liquid.

Goldschmid and Bentter ( 1968) administered to 143

kinder-garten, first and second grade children a scale

consisting of six conservation tasks and observed significant

correlation between different grades on conservation tasks.

Shea John D. and Yerua, Godfrey (1980) conducted

conservation tasks on 3rd - 6th grade children from the Jim!

61

Valley area of Western Highland. They were tested for

conservation of 4 concepts; namely, number, length, quantity

and area. Schooling, age and sex were related to conserva­

tion with some concepts and there were interaction effects

between schooling and age. Result suggested that consider­

able differences between language, culture and groups within

Papua New Guinea.

Bevli, U.K. {1983) st~died the effect of home, sChool

and individual variables on the cognitive development of 51/2

to 1~ year old Indian children and investigated relationship

between Piagetian type conservation task and 25 independent

variables consisting of school, home and individual, as well

as between school achievement as measured by achievement.

Tests on Arithmetic and Language and on the strength of their

findings, they concl~ded that out of 24 variables, socio­

economic status of parents especially education and income

ratio of the family facilitated conservation performance.

Play, school fees, school facilities, intelligence and

ethical discrimination were found to be highly correlated

with the concepts of number, length, area and volume as well

as the composite overall scores of all the concepts taken

together.

Concepts of length, area and volume as well as

compos! te scores o! all the above showed significant (PL .01)

relationship w1 th the Achievement Test on Arithmetic and

Language. Though the values show a decreasing trend with

65

increase in age, they are still significant for the ages

studied. Results indicated that language achievement, I.Q.,

school facilities and arithmetic achievement functioned as

the facilitative variables affecting conservation properties.

The first 3 are significant at 0.1 level accounting for 46.16%

out of a total of 50.13% of variance. Language achievement

and intelligence seem to be most important variables predictive

of the Ss success on conservation tasks. Language achievement

+ I.Q. together account for 40.96% and 46.34% of variance

respecti "irely. Arithmetic achievement and school facilities

are the variables next in importance in the case of girls

whereas school facilities and parental aspiration in the case

of boys.

Huang, Jingjiaa et al. (1985) studied pre-school

children to determine whether their learning experience or

underlying cognitive structure plays the more important role

in the acquisition of the concept of conservation. Ss were

3 groups of 4.5 - 6.5 · yr old children from 2 different

cultural backgrounds. Each group was divided into 2 age

groups 4.5 - 5.5 yrs and 5.5 - 6.5 yrs. They demonstrated

that none of the children were able to conserve weight. A

training procedure was used to teach the concept of conser­

vation. Age was found to be an important determining factor,

but cultural background had no e:f:fect on performance. The

results indicated that the training procedure benefitted Ss

who had developed some logical cognitive structure much more

than Ss without this structure.

68

Robert Miche1e and Lacroix, Paul E. (1984) studied

non-conservers (mean age 6.9 yrs) and examined the contri­

bution of Ss cognitive resources in an observational learning

situation involving conservation task{liquid quantity).

During pre-test, some Ss were exposed to the notion of simple

conservation (modeling) which they did or did not master.

Some Ss were administered preparatory conservation exercises

and some Ss completed both. After exposure to the observational

learning situation, all Ss underwent immediate and de1ayed

post-testing. ResU1 ts indicated that 1earning was independent

of ini t1a1 competence among Ss who performed on1y the prepara­

tory exercises. Among Ss who took part in mode1ing or in both

exercises and modeling at pre-test, higher sequences were

achieved by those with high initia1 competence than by those

with 1ow initial competence. It is thus, evident that the

relationship between a child's cognitive resources and the

resources he/she is equipped with prior to and during learning

situations, is an essential aspect of conservation competence.

Mishra Chapala and Padhee, B.N. (1987) studied the

effect of parents formal schooling and socio-economic status

on the conservation (volume) abi1ity of 3 groups of 7-11 yrs

olds representing unschooled low socio-economic status,

schooled low socio-economic status and schooled high SES

(n =50). Piagetian tasks of conservation of volume were

administered to all Ss. Results· showed that the development

of conservation ability was age dependent but that in constrast

to previous findings, both schooling and socio-economic status

had no significant effects.

67

Hanrahan James P., Yelin et al. (1987} studied 6o

kindergarten and grade 1 children. They were administered

conservation of number tasks. The effects o! 3 variables

were measured. They observed that only familiarity was

significant. Children experienced conservation of number

easier when tested with familiar materials.

Jain, s.c. (1981) investigated attainment of conser­

vation of mass, weight and volume in school chil.dren and

found that almost all the students were able to conserve

mass and weight tasks up to IX class. The ability increased

from classes VI to IX. In IXth class 94% students were able

to perform correctly on conservation of mass and weight.

Though both the tasks measure the conservation ability for

volume the results showed that most of the student (72%) even

upto XI cl.ass were unable to attempt correctly the conserva­

tion of volume using pl.asticine task while a few students

(27%) in XI class were unable to perform correctl.y the metal

cylinder task. The significant difference in performance on

the two volume conservation tasks justifies the need for

investigating the content structure for each specific tasks

and to find out the various sub-concepts necessary for

correct performance on the task.

2.114 Effect of Socio-Economic Status on Conservation:

. Quay, Lorence Haugh Kuth, et. al. (1981) assessed

7, 8 and 9 years ol.d children (N - 144) in lower middle and

upper socio-economic status (SES) group on 4 cognitive variabl.e

G8

classification class inclusion. conservation of number and

conservation of substance, and on communication encoding

effectiveness. It is found that in addition to age and SES,

general cognitive abi~ity accounted for a significant propor­

tion of the variance in communication encoding.

Hargreaves, David J. Mol.loy, et al. ( 1982) conducted

a partial replication of J Me Garrigle and M. Donaldson, and

P.H. Light et al. (Vo~. 65, 76, 93). 5 years o~d children

(N = 64) were tested on traditional Piagetion tests of conser­

vation of number under a standard control condition and one

and two experimental condi tiona. One in which the task

materials were apparently accidentally transformed by a second

experimenter and another in which the transformation was made

to appear irrelevant to the main purpose of the task. The

frequency of initial conserving responses was higher in the

two experimental conditions than in the control condition and

this effect was strongest for the apparently irrelevant

transformation.

E~ind and Schoenfeld (1972) while testing for number

conservation and conservation quantities found that older

chi~dren were better conserver than younger children.

Brainerd (1973) found that number conservation was attained

prior to liquid and quantity conservation. The study by

Lovell, Healey and Rawland (1962) confirmed the main stages

in the growth of certain geometrical concepts among English

school children proposed by Piaget, Inhelder and Szeminska.

68

Silvern and Yawkey (1976) tested children .from grades

I, II, IV and VI .from middle class socio-economic status in

mathematical task of matching, equal! ty, coordination and

measure and Piagetian conservation tasks of number, length

and area. Significant Chi-square tests were observed between

number conservation and matching, number conservation and

equality, number conservation and measure, length conservation

and measure, and area conservation and measure.

Hofmann, Richard J. and Ashurey, Nadeem (1986) defined

a basic conservation continuum of three types of task (i.e.

conservation of number, mass and length). The continuum was

validated using four nearly equal groups of children (aged

6-8 yrs). A total of 65 .from two socio-culture setting showed

suppressed conservation scores. For the other three groups

the scores were qualitatively but not quantitatively different.

Alcock, James E. and Moore, T. et al. (1985) evaluated

the durability of the belief that by late adolescence, normal

individuals accept the principle of an area conservation. 120

undergraduates completed a short questionnaire that cons;idered

statements of ostensible .fact. Ss were then shown a rectangle

cut from graph paper and divided into .four components. Ss

were asked to calculate the area, then were told that 1 t was

8x8 = 64 square units. Findings indicated that conservation

of area was not a widely-endorsed principle among undergraduates

and that for those who endorsed it the belief was highly suscept

ible to disproof. Females tended to be somewhat more suscept­

ible to the demonstration than males.

70

Shukla, J.P. (1980) studied the effect of socio­

economic status on conservation in mass, weight and volume

of solid and liquid and accorded moderated significant

dif'f'erence between the means of' middle and lower SES on

conservation in weight of' solid and liquid and bare signi­

f'icance in conservation of mass in liquid. Shukla's results

further indicated that among the main sources of' variation,

socio-economic status and quantity have been f'ound inter­

acting significantly with conservation of solid and liquid

both whereas sex and schooling did not interact signif'icantly.

Further, except the interaction between (sex x quantity),

(sex x schooling), all remaining interactions between diff'erent

bivariables as well as tri-variables have been f'ound highly

signif'icant. The combined eff'ect of' all the four main sources

of variation on solid and liquid both has also been recorded

extremely significant. All the three main sources of varia­

tion (i.e. culture x age x quantity) as well as their inter­

actions involving the bi-variables and the single tri-variables

indicating the combined ef'fect have been found highly signi­

ficant •

.All the main sources of variations have been found

significantly interacting with the conservation perf'ormance

of' liquid, however, the effect of age and quantity have been

recorded highly signif'icant (P L .01) whereas culture has been

estimated to have a moderate effect (P L .05).

Lioyd (1971) studied questions concerning the effect

of materials, age and culture on conservation in Yoruba

71

subjects drawn from traditional homes and educationally

advanced homes. The subjects showed conservation responses

at the same age as American and other African subjects. The

findings Lloyd question Greenfield's hypothesis that Woloy

subjects achieve conservation through direct action.

2.115 E;t'fect of Culture on Conservation:

Posner, Jill, K. and Baroody (1979) examined the

effects of cultural and educational variables on the develop­

ment of number conservation among 90 African 5-6 and 9-10 yrs

old from 2 cultural milieus (agricul tured and merchant). A

task that evaluated counting skill was also administered to

determine if a relationship existed between counting facility

and conservation schooled. Baoule (agr.) Ss performed better

than unschooled Ss on conservation. However, a matched

group of unschooled Dioula (merchant) Ss performed as well

as their schooled peers. No differences were found between

schooled children from either group. Counting ability

appeared to be associated with conservation performance.

Results are consonant with the functional learning systelll.

Approach to cognitive processing acquisition of mature number

concept is dependent on particular activities - those that

schooled and a merchant culture provided albeit differently.

Greenfield (1966) investigated conservation with

Senegelese children by using Piagets task. He found that

conservation ceases after 8-9 years of age. Older children

showed no significant improvelllent over the 8-9 year old

72

children. Gil Candia (1972) administered a series of conser­

vation tasks to Negro, Indian and White children in the

first three grades. Results indicated significant differences

between Negro Indian and White groups with regard to age of

acquisition of conservation, o.w.o.c. Paul J. (1973) explored

possible relationship between conservation and three variables

of milieu, schooling and age, Study was conducted for liquid

conservation tasks on Nigerian in four age groups (6-7, 8-9,

11-13 and over 18}. He found that conservation was related

to age. Older subjects did better than younger. No statis­

tically significant difference was observed between the rural

and urban subjects. Significant difference was found in

conservation tasks between school going and non-school going

children.

Jain and Iyanger (1976) examined cultural variations

in the development of conservation of liquids employing

African and Indian urban and rural children. Results indi­

cated that cultural variation did influence the growth of

conservation and the rate of progress. Brekke, Williams and

Brekke ( 1977) investigated the effect of cross-cultural

factors in the acquisition of conservation of weight in

adolescents and young adUlts. No significant difference was

found between Zanibian-females and American fema1es.

Price (1978) reviewed the published research on

conservation in papua New Guinea (PNG) and concluded that

the performance of children in PNG on conservation tasks is

73

well below that of the Europeans of the same age though the

educational system in PNG is based on the western system.

Bernum, Alma (1972) examined Piaget• s theory cross­

culturally and their result supported the theory. Goodnow

(1962), Greenfield (1966), Hyde (1959), Price, WiUiams (1961,

1962) studied quantity conservation of children belonging to

different cultures. They found some common abilities 1n

developmental trend but cultural differences were also

reported. Mermel Stein and Shulman (1967) conducted experi­

ments on lower class schooled and unschooled rural and urban

Negroes and .found significant di:f.ferences in the acquisition

of conservation. Result in Canadian Indian and white 7-8

years old showed no significant difference across groups for

the Piagetian conservation of length task. However, conser­

vation of volume and ability to conserve both length and

volume resulted in a higher proportion of successful perfor­

mance for the white group. Bliss and Dochety (1979)

administered mass, weight and volume conservation tasks to

Yoruba Ss aged 13-19 years. The results showed no signifi­

cant sex range effects. The sequence of the development of

mass, weight and volume was the same as in western culture.

Llpyd ( 1971) studied the effect of materials, age

and culture on conservation in Yoruba subjects dra'WD from

tradi tiona1 and educationally advanced families. He .fowd

that subjects showed conservation at the same age as

American and other African subjects.

Shama (1976) compared the liquid, solid and number

conservation concepts of 25 British and 25 Indian primary

school children. Pia.getian tests were acbllinistered. The

results showed that the Indian children in general developed

basic conservation abilities slightly earlier than the

British children.

By and large most cross-cultural studies showed that

the attainment of conservation is delayed among non-westerners

although some exceptions did exist (Ashton, P.T., 1975, Dasen,

P.R., 1972}. It has been suggested that schooling has little

effect on the conservation of mass and weight and more

effect on those tasks that require words drawing and visual

imagery (Ashton 1975, and Goodnow, J., 1969).

Babu, Nandita and Nanda Rynva (1984) examined the

impact of task familiarity on the conservation ability of

6-8 years old (N = 45) from pottery-making families with

45 children of the same ages from non-pottery making fami­

lies. Ss were adninistered tests oS conservation of substance

weight, number, 2 dimensional space continuous quantity and

discontinuous quantity. The test of conservation of substance

involved the direct manipulation of clay. Analysis of variance

(ANO VA) revealed a significant impact of cul. ture and age on

conservation scores. It is concluded that familiarity with

task material enhances understanding of conservation princi­

ples on understanding that can be generalized to other task.

75

Banerji, Mridula and Jain, Rekha (1982) explored

the development of conservation of number and mass in

5 - 7 years olds (N .. 120) and conservation of volume

(N .. 120) in 10 - 12 years old, Results indicated that

rural Ss performed significantly better on tasks involving

conservation of number and mass than did urban Ss. In :e

explaining this findings the authors note the interaction

between cognitive development and the environment and

suggested that the rural children benefitted from both rural

and urban experiences. No differences were obtained between

rural and urban Ss on tasks involving conservation of volume.

There were no sex difference also.

Basu, C.K., Ramchandran, K. ( 1979) studied develoP­

ment of science and mathematics concepts in urban and rural

children at the primary grades in India at the age group of

7-11 years.

The urban group consisted of children studying in

Govt. and Govt. aided schools and belonging to middle class

and upper middle class families. The rural group belonged

mostly to the parents who were farmers and field labourers.

The seven basic concepts selected for the study were: number,

length, area, volume, weight, force and energy. The tasks

were administered individUally to each of the subjects. The

stage seems to be related to both, age and grade; higher the

age of the student, better the performance. Similarly higher

the grade, better the performance.

76

Urban children perform better than the rural children

which is attributed to the better educational and learning

experiences they have in schools and at homes. The better

performance by rural children on weight task is attributed

to the rural children 1 s experience in measuring weighing

farm-produce at their .farms and at home. Urban group found

the concept of number easier while the rural group found

the weight concept easier.

Bentley Alastair, M. (1987) investigated the develoP­

ment of conservation skill in tasks dealing with temporal

and non-temporal concepts in 2nd, 7th grade Swazi children

(N .. 129) • ss were given a task in which they synchronous

durations and were asked to justify their responses. Result

indicated that time conservation tasks presented few diffi­

culties for these Ss who are from a non-technological culture.

Findings also suggest that the time conservation tasks were

more difficult than the equality tasks which emp~oyed similar

materials. It is concluded that Piagentian theory needs to

address the problem of di:t'.ferential acquisition of cognitive

skills that theoretically should develop simultaneously.

2.116 Effect of Communication on Conservation:

Sullivan (1967} investigated mechanisms that induce

conceptua~ization of substance by combining Bruner• s verbal

enrichment theory with Piagets concrete operational principles.

Wheldoll Kevin and Poborey Barbara ( 1980} described

a non-verbal paradigm !or assessing conservation based on an

77

operant discrimination, learning proced~e. In two experi­

ments with 58 children {mean age 6.5 years), Ss were trained

to press bottom when shown 2 jars containing equal amount of

water and to refrain from pressing when the amounts were

inequal. In this way, Ss were taught to respond to a non­

verbal request by wordlessly signaling their evolution of

the relationship between 2 quantities. When criterion was

reached, one of two quantities previously judged equal was

poured into a different shaped jar and an evaluatory responses

to this transformed requested non-verbally. Initial results

suggested that young children who could not conserve within

the traditional verbal procedure were more likely to demonst­

rate conservation in the non-verbal pardigm and that tradi­

tional Piagetian tasks are verbally based.

Matterson, Richard, L. and Williams Rober (1980)

studied the influence of young children's affirmative

thought pattern on the pre-number conservation response of

choosing the longer row as numerically greater. Fluet

Michael and Hewison, Y. Vonna (1979) argued that the tradi­

tional Piagetian paradigm of operational thinking under

estimates the cognitive skills of young children by ovel'­

looking the effect of social influence. In the present

experiment, when 46 children (60-71 month old) were presented

with video recordings (as apposed to the experimenter's

instructions) of a number conservation task, they demonstrated

the logical necessity for conservation.

78

Perry et al. (1988} conducted three studies on 120

children of 12 years old and analyzed the conceptual know­

ledge as expressed through their verbal and gestural

explanations of concepts. Findings from Experiment I

revealed that older Ss (aged 10-11 yrs) exhibited gesture/

speech discordance with respect to their understanding of.

the equivalence relationship in mathematical equations.

Miller (1976) studied the non-verbal assessment of

conservation of number. Correct answers were frequent in

the non-verbal condition than in the standard condition but

the difference between the two condi tionswas not account­

able. T:he slight superiority of performance in the non­

verbal condition resulted from the fact that the Ss were

less often consistant on the non-verbal trials. Wohwell

(1966} studied the specification of.the development sequence

and found the sequence to be at first descriptive in the

analysis of the processes involved in concept formation.

Murray, Frank, B. and Markes sin, Joan ( 1982)

conducted a study on 1st graders (N = 60) who responded to

4 traditional and 24 randomly sequenced weight conservation

tasks in which the transformations were based on 24 attri­

butes of a doll. Some of these attributes were connotations

of weight and some were not. Transformation of attributes

that were connatations produced, significantly more non­

conservation than transformations of those that were not.

The direction of non-conservation (1. e. heavier or lighter)

was significantly related to whether the attribute was

linguistically marked or unmarked.

79

Light Paul, H. et a1. ( 1987) assessed the influence

of emphasizing fairness and introducing a second experimenter

on children's performance of a conservation task. 112 children

in the age of 4-6 years old were divided into 4 conditions and

tested in pairs on a task involving conservation of disconti­

nuous quantity. ResUlts offered evidence that emphasizing

fairness through the device of a competitive game increased

the frequency of correct answers. Lautrey et al.. ( 1989)

employed 20 French 1st - 2nd graders who passed an area

conservation task (mean age 8 years) and 20 who .failed it

(mean age 6 years 7 months), They were administered a rect­

angle area judgement task to examine the relationship between

perceptive judgement of quantity and conservation judgement

of quantity. The rectangle task was similar to that used by

N.H. Anderson and D.D. Cuneo (PA Vol. 42: 2999) with 5-8 yrs

and 11 yrs old. In the present study, the conservation Ss

generally appeared to apply the additive rule (the height and

width ruJ.e) observed by Anderson and Cuneo in 5 yrs olds. In

contrast, the non-conserving Ss generally presented pattern

suggesting centration on 1 of the 2 dimensions.

Polk Cindy, L. and uoldstein, David (1980) observed

that ERS has significantly higher total Piagetian scores than

NRS - conservation o.f mass and conservation of weight, mass

and length. Sub-tests were significant contributors to the

overall di:t'ference. A follow up test of reading achievement

at the end of the 1st grade showed that the E.R.s. has main­

tained their initial advantage and that Piagetian scores for

all Ss were significantJ.y correlated with reading achievement.

80

2.117 Effect of Motivation/Incentive on Conservation:

Robinson Kenneth and Rass Steven, M. (1987) assessed

performance of 52 elderly Ss (aged 54-94 yrs) on Piagetian

tasks with or without provision of incentives as a motivating

condition to examine cognitive functioning. Although the

incentive group scored higher than the no incentive group on

all tasks, differences did not reach significance contrary

to the expected pattern. Conservation ot volume scores was

higher than conservation of surface area scores. It is

suggested that elderly adults might be more infl.uenced than

younger age group by extrinsic properties of conservation

task stimuli.

Tajfel and Winter (1963) studied two groups of

children aged about 4 years. The problem was to match the

size of counters before the counters have been associated

with reward, after this association has been reinstated.

The .t'irst group over-estimated the size after reward but

decreased its estimate after the extinction procedure.

Onyehalu Anthony, s. {1983) investigated the effici­

ency of a feedback technique (knowledge of results) in

post-test conservation of substance and quantity. Data were

collected from 247 Nigerian 6.5 - 7.5 years olds using the

individual interview method. Statistical analysis using

t value showed a significantly superior perf<?rmance by the

feed back Ss relative to the no feed back controls.

81

Moore Chris and Frye (1896) conducted 3 experiment s

to analyze children's performance on quantity tasks in rela­

tion to the context o:f the tasks and the children 1 s under­

standing o:f the term more experiments I and II with 26 Ss

(aged 5 yrs 4 months to 6 yrs) and 48 Ss (aged 4 yrs 6 months

to 6 yrs 10 months) respectively compared Ss performance on

conservation tasks in the standard context and in a modified

context in which the Ss were led to interpret to mean an

addition rather than the observably larger of the 2 quanti­

ties. Ss were significantly more likely to conserve in the

modified context : than in the standard and to :focus an

addition rather than appearance. Exp. III examined the

developmental changes in the understanding of more 48 Ss

aged 7 yrs 7 months to 8 yrs 9 months were tested on 4 quan­

tity tasks in which more could be understood in different

ways. The youngest group understood more to mean an addi­

tion and were less likely to judge on the basis o:f appear­

ance. Non-conserving Ss at the middle and oldest ages judged

according to appearance whereas conservers understood more in

a more :flexible way. It is concluded that conservation can

be best understood by examining the child's in his social

and linguistic context.

2.118 Effect'. of Cognj.tive style/Cognitive maturity/I.Q.

on Conservation:

Hill, Daniel (1980) studied 6-11 yrs olds (N = 89)

on completed Piagetian conservation tasks o:f length and

82

volume and then on the probable rod and frame test. He

observed that scores on Piagetian task were related to age

but field independence was correlated significantly with

these scores.

Moore Dewayne and Riemer Barbara (1982) examined

40 males and 40 females from the 1st and 3rd grades; and

evaluated the achievement behaviour of hypothetical others

and completed 4 task (e.g. conservation of mass and liquid)

designed to assess their level of cognitive maturity. Results

revealed that ef.fort ability and outcome were influential

evaluation determinants for both age groups and that even

pre-operational Sa used effort and outcome to evaluate the

performance o.f others.

Murray (1965) reported that Muller Iyer illusion did

not affect the conservation responses. Children developed

conservation responses despite the type of Muller Iyer

illusion used.

Rao, Narayan S. (1977) studied the conservation of

mass, weight and volume on 432 Ss in the age group 4 to 8

years, divided into half year intervals, attending primary

and nursery school located within the limits of Tirupati

Municipality in Andhra Pradesh in South India. Employing

sex {2) x Socio-economic level (2) x conditions of testing

(6} x Age levels (9} factorial design, Rao reported that

conservation of mass developed as early as 4 years, conser­

vation of weight around 6 years and volume does not appear

83

at ages studied. He also observed that socio-economic status

as well. as mental ability were :found to be significant

factors affecting cognitive development,

Bevli u,, Kapoor, R., Bbarti, K., Tiwari Lakshmi

(1983) studied longitudinally the cognitive development of

Indian children of ages 2 to 13 years with a view to tmder­

standing the structure of logical thinking in Indian children.

He followed Piagetian model. He studied the notion of casua­

lity, class numbers and relations, conservation of quantities

distance and surface, time movement and speed, and notion of

space. Testing 176 children was simultaneously with 4

different groups at 4 different age levels 1. e., 2, 5, 8 and

11 years, 2 years olds were tested every 6 months and others

every year during the period of study. Results indicated

levelling effect of schooling on conservation. Upper SES

also occurred as potential determinant of conservation.

Adjel, Kwabena (1984) investigated the hypothesis

that the classical Genevan procedure for testing liquid

quantity conservation is inherently artifactual using 80

Ghanaian under-graduates as Ss. Four variations of the

liquid quantity transformation procedure (T,P,) were

employed:(!) the uncorrelated UTP (ii) identical containers

equally filled with water and the 3rd empty) (iii.) the

correlated CTP (2 identical containers equally filled with

water and 2 variable empty containers) and (iv) 1 ts control

(CTCP) (4 identical containers 2 equally filled with water

and 2 empty) in the UTP and UTCP water was transferred from

81

only I filled container to the only empty container. In the

CTP TCP water was transferred from each filled container to

each empty container leaving the originally filled containers

empty. Results showed identical per.fonnance on UTP and UTCP

and on CTP and CTCP. However, pel'lformance on CTP and CTCP

was significantly superior. Procedure (UTP) is inherently

artifactual because it fails to ensure the· equality of

pouring operation after the initial null condition. This

failure produces a constant error in the stimulus situation

called transformational error.

Hyde (1959} .found that some children who were non­

conservers in a· test using plasticene balls conserved when

a liquid was poured .from one vessel into another of different

shape.

Pratt Chris ( 1988) employed 16 conservers and 16 non­

conservers (aged 5 yrs 6 months to 7 yrs 3 months) and asked

them to describe a conservation task of liquid by providing

a general description of the task and answering specific

questions relating to the various aspects to the task (e.g•

the initial equality, the trans.formation, the post-transfor­

mation judgement). .Analysis of Ss 1 general descriptions

revealed that both groups made reference to the salient

aspects o.f the task and that the main difference between the

groups was in the content of the answers concerning relative

quantities of liquid .following the. transformation. In

response to the speci.fic questions, there was a greater

tendency among conservers to indicate awareness o:l the

85 purpose of the task and to accept that other may make a

different judgement following the transformation.

Hedgers Rosemary, M. and French Lucia, A. (1988)

assessed E.M. Markman's hypothesis that the organizational

principles underlying collection concepts facilitate children

performance on cognitive tasks requiring part-while comparison.

Expt. II assessed the effect of class/collection labels on

28 nursery school children • s (aged 4 yrs) demonstration of

number conservation. Experiment III extended the age range

and examined the effect of label on 56 kindergartener' s and

1st graders performance on number conservation. Both experi­

ments !ailed to replicate Markman's findings. Overall resul.ts

indicated that the facilitative effect of collection labels

appears to be specific 1x> the class inclusion task.

Voneche, Jacques and Doyle Carol ( 1989) conducted

a study on children (aged 8-14 yrs) who were tested for weight

conservation as studied by Piaget and were given an inertia

problem by presenting a ball on a horizontal plane and asking

what would happen i! the ball when launched on an inde!ini te

straight path. Findings indicated that the level on which

Ss explained what would happen to the ball did not corres­

pond with their age or I. Q. I. Q., thus, appeared unrelated

to Ss performance on the conservation in task test. Move­

ment explanations of the highest sort were generally given

by Ss who performed the conservation at the concrete opera­

tional level.

86

Feigenbaum (1963) found that children's grasp of

conservation tended to vary with their I.Q. and with the

nature of concrete experimental operations.

2.119 Effect of Deformation on Conservation:

Smedslund 1 s ( 1961) study on the acquisition of

conservation of substance and weight reveals that children

initially think that the amount o:f substance changes with

every deformation of an object and this perceived change

repeatedly was in the opposite direction of the perceived

change following a simultaneous addition or substraction.

The result revealed to be consistent with the theory of

acquisition based on internal equilibration and inconsistent

with a theory of external reinforcement (Equilibration

theory: Piaget, 1950, 1951). In another study, Smedslund

(1961) found that when the invariance of weight of an object

over deformation was empirically demonstrated a number of

children began to assert conservation of weight even in

situations where a balance was not present which appeared

to support the learning theory interpretation.

Jamison Wesley (1982) tested 89 1st graders on number

conservation, conservation of continuous quantity (mass) and

conservation of dis continuous quantity. The 24 girls and

19 boys who failed the 2 quantity conservation tasks were

exposed on all conservation measures. Posttest quantity

conservation performance was assessed in relation to perfor­

mance on the number conservation task. A Chi-square test

87

for the homogeneity of the distribution of number correct

on quantity conservation showed a significant difference

between number conservers and number non-conservers. Ss

who understood performance more often improved than Ss

who showed no understanding of number conservation.

Murray, Frank, B, and Holm Janet (1982) studied

90 Ss from kindergarten and the 1st and 2nd grades. They

were given conservation of length, substance and weight

tasks with continuous and discontinuous quantities in which

the discontinuous quantities were distributed along a

particle size continuum. No significant difference was found

in conservation between continuous or discontinuous materials

which is attributed to the lack· of potency of the continuity­

discontinuity aspect of the horizontal decalage appeared in

performance across ages and across conservation tasks.

Brown, Ronald, T. et al. (1985) investigated whether

17 attention deficit disordered (ADD) studying at 3rd and

4th graders (mean mental age 118,8 months, mean I.Q. 101.3)

differed from normal Ss with mental age and intelligence

matched with 3rd and 4th graders on Piagetian tasks of

conservation. Ss completed 2 conservation tasks of number

and a conservation task of substance. Result indicated that

there were significant differences between ADD Ss and controls

on the conservation task. Although ADD Ss were significantly

deficient in conservation of substance, their deficiency in

conservation progression of the development of conservation

88

of substance that has, been previously established.

Rogalski Janine (1985) describes a formation approach

to conservation that permits mathematical analysis of trans­

formation properties and inference of the types of inter­

actions that exist between situation properties and cognitive

activities of a subject. Two conservation acquisition moda­

lities are distinguished; one linked to the passage from

continuous to discrete sets w1 th regard to Piaget' s concept

of atomism and the other based on the consideration of the

deformation process itself. The concept of conservation is

used to explain paradoxical and contradictory result in

conservation studies. It is suggested that mathematical

decomposition of processes can be usefUl in the development

of hypothesis concerning the cognitive steps involved in

conservation acquisition.

According to Smedslund (1961) children initially

think that the amount of substance changes with every defor­

mation of an object and this perceived change repeatedly was

in the opposite direction of the perceived change, following

a simultaneous addition or substraction. By coordinating

these two operations into an organized whole, the absence

of addition and substraction is eventually seen as meaning

to no change in amount, i.e. conservation.

Hall and Simpson (1968) tried to test Smedslund's

equilibration theory and found that the question of accepting

89 either the learning theory or the equilibration theory

remained unsolved in the explanation of acquisition of

conservation.

Pinard, Adrien et al. (1986) investigated the

diversity of way in which interference affects the acquisi­

tion of conservation of weight. The extent to which the

interference is difficult to overcome was also studied in

5 groups of 10 children each (mean age 5.6 yrs, 7. 7 yrs,

9.6 yrs, 11.5 yrs and 13.7 yrs). It was hypothesized that

Ss would tend to negate conservation not only when the form

of an object was altered but also when without deforming the

object. One of its properties (e.g. colour, temperature)

was altered when variations <e.g• movement or orientation)

were introduced into the concrete situation in which weight

was exerted, or when other spatial properties (e.g. volume,

surface) were made to interact with weight. Four types of

conservation problems were administered to Ss. Results

indicated that children up to 8 yrs of age displayed diffi­

cUlty accepting the conservation of weight even when a

transforna.tion does not deform the object and that children

up to 13 yrs may accept the conservation of weight but

observed it difficult to explain as to why an object appears

heavier in those instances where weight has to be coordinated

with another spatial property.

90

2.120 Effect of Training/Interaction on Conservation:

Onyehalu, .Anthony, s. (1982) studied the effect of

verbal rule instruction technique in facilitating the acqui­

sition of conservation concepts. Data were collected from

247 Nigerian 1st and 2nd graders divided into 3 groups;

namely, verbal, non-verbal and no training. Significant

differences in favour of the verbal Ss were detected in the

immediate and delayed post-tests on substance and volume

task. Result indicated that verbal training sensitized Ss

to appropriate verbalization of their ideas as concepts.

1\Tohlwill and Lowe ( 1962) reported that use of non-verbal

procedures with normal children did not appear to make

conservation easier. Training children to use the operational

verbal formulae did not affect their success on the conser­

vation task.

Wohwill and Lowe (1962) experimented to test the

possibility of accelerating the mastery of conservation of

number. He found no significant improvement during the

training as measured by the verbal test. They seem to

substantiate Piaget' s claim that the verbal ability to

perform with the ideas of conservation o:t:'number does not

emerge in child at such an age at which he studies in

kindergarten. Mermelstein and Meyer (1968) trained children

on number conservation employing different procedures and

tested them at different intervals. They found that Piagetian

concept of conservation was not induced by any of the learning

91

techniques. Barry (1978) tested 3 and 4 year olds on number

conservation and conservation like tasks generated from

Piagetian theory. Results confirmed to response patterns

compatiable with cognitive developmental stage theory and

their distribution over stages varied with age as expected.

Pinard Adrian (1979) supported the Piaget 1 s theory of tran­

sition from topological ordinal to euclidian concepts in

acquiring conservation of length.

Rowell J.A. and Dawson, C.J. (1981} attempted to

apply Piagetian theory based conflict methodology from

individual situations to whole classroom. The effect of

conflict instruction on 127 Australian 8th grader ability

to conserve volume of non-compressible matter and to apply

that knowledge to gas volume was studied. Each group was

administered revised form of the group administered conser­

vation tests developed by J.A. Rowell and V.J. Renner (1976)

as the pre-post and delayed post-tests. Results reported

for individuals and groups showed that the methodology could

be effective particularly when instruction was preceded by

a pretest. Immediate posttest differences in knowledge of

gas volume between spontaneous (pretest) conservation and

instructed conservers of volume of non-compressible matter

were not in evidence on the delayed posttest.

Wallach and Sproll (1964) studied the effect of

reversibility training on number conservation and was found

to be helpful in inducing conservation. Miao (1971) reported

92

that training had significant effect on sequential acquisi­

tion o£ conservation. Rothenberg (1969) :found significant

training effect on number conservation.

Becher ( 1977) tested the effect of additional test­

ing on conservation of number per:formance. Results showed

significantly higher conservation of number performance

scores for both male and female subjects, Cowan (1979) studied

performance in number conservation tasks as a function of

the number of items. Results are consistent with recent·

accounts of number development tb:t t postulates prior attain­

ment of number conservation with small numbers. Miller

(1979) performed an experiment on 120 kindergarten 1st grade

children. It was non-verbal study of conservation of number.

Result indicated that usual verbal methods of assessment may

under-estimate the younger child's knowledge of conservation.

Cruess (1965) reported that there was little transfer of

training from number conservation to other kinds of conser­

vation. Training children on conservation of number help

little to increase their ability to conserve length and

substance.

Rao Narayan, S. (1977) studied the differential

effect o.f different types of training as well as the transfer

of training from one conservation task to another. The study

was conducted on 4 - 6 year (N = 320) children by half year

intervals divided into 5 groups. The experimental groups

were given conservation training on number, mass, length and

93

weight employing two procedures - Verbal and non-Verbal.

At the commencement of the training, the groups were tested

for conservation of area and volume. The post test for

conservation of area and volume was conducted again after

the training. The experimental group showed definite gains

as compared to the control group of number, length, mass

and weight. However, there was no significant difference

between the control and experimental group with regard to

the conservation of area and volume suggesting that there

was no transfer eff'ect. Both types of training significantly

aff'ect the conservation performance. Ss significantly

improved when the training given was of a didadic nature.

Smith (1968) also reported that verbal rule instruction

improves significantly the performance of both conservers

and non-conservers. The effects of' training were of short

term.

Mermelstein and Meyar (1969) trained children on

number conservation employing different procedures and tested

them at different intervals. Results indicated that Piagetian

concept of conservation was not induced by any of the learning

technique.

Sigel, Rooper and Hooper (1966) doubted the efficiency

of direct training on the conservation tasks. The qualitative

and quantitative analysis of the results of their investiga­

tions provided support for the basic hypothesis that training

programmes focussing on pre-requisites .for relevant cognitive

operations infllJ"Wlce the resultant cognitive structure.

Possessing the necessary pre-requisite children may discover

conservation as a principle and apply it to substance, weight

and volume. Smedslund (1961a, 1961b, 1961c, 1961d, 1961e,

1961f) attempted to train children to conserve weight by

employing two kinds of transformation, i.e. deformation by

changing the shape and addition and substraction of quantity.

Results of this study indicated that experience with conflict

situations was found sufficiently effective in inducing

conservation performance in the subjects.

Me¥ and Tisshaaw (1977) gave quantity conservation

test to children between the age group 4, 1 and 5,4 years.

Ss trained on either length or number problems only conserved

more than untrained subuects. Rao (1976) studied the effect

of training of length, mass, weight and number on conserva­

tion of area and volume. 324 children between 4 and 7 years

were randomly assigned to experimental and controlled groups.

The results show that age is a significant factor in conser­

vation performance but that sex is not. The results largely

corroborated Piaget•s findings.

Smedslund {1961, 1962, 1963) demonstrated that

conservation is acquired through repeated exposures to

conflict situations. It is also pointed that this view is

consistent with Piaget's equilibration theory. In

Smedslund's investigation, children 'who could conserve weight

or exhibit conservation of weight after being trained have

eventually relapsed into non-conservation. Sigel, Rooper

and Hooper (1966) questioned the efficacy of direct reinforced

type of training.

95

Onyehaly, Anthony, s. (1985) examined the suscepti­

bility of conservation behaviour to facilitation with 6¥2,

7¥2 yrs old Nigerian non-conservers (N a 247) of substance

and volume. ss were administered verbal training on 4

classical conservation pretest tasks and were post-tested

twice. Results indicated positive e:t:f ects of training as

well as the durability of trained conservation over a 2 week

period.

Cooper Laurel., D. and Rigrodsky Seymour ( 1979)

examined nine aphasic adults with mean age (54.56 yrs) who

demonstrated a minimal ability to explain a cognitive task.

They were given verbal model training to improve their

explanations of weight and liquid conservation. Each subject

was given a pretest on experimental condition during which

explanations for weight conservation only were given. As

a result of training, a greater number of explanation quanti­

tative improvement and greater number of explanations

(quantitative improvement) and a greater number of explana­

tory concepts (qualitative improvement) were expressed in

both the trained and untrained conservation tasks. It is

suggested that this improvement (a) is the result of

11 response facilitation effects" as described by A. Ban dura

(1971) and (b) supports H. Schuell et al. ( 1964) concepts

of impaired linguistic retrieval mechanisms in aphasia.

Pasnak Robert, Brown, et. al. {1987) experimented

on 5¥2 years old boys {N = 2) who were not making normal

intellectual progress. They were trained on 4 concepts,

S6

namely, simple classification (addity), seriation, substance,

conservation and number conservation, ss were given problems

to solve and were rewarded for correct solutions and explain­

ing the reasoning behind their sol.utions. Scores on the

Wechsler Pre-school and Primary Scale of Intelligence (wPPSI)

and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale showed that the

training has a substantial effect on concept mastery, that

training on either number or substance conservation genera­

lized extensively to weight conservation and that training

on number conservation generalized to substance conservation.

Parson Barry, s. and Naughton Kathleen, A, {1988)

investigated whether 4-5 yrs olds could be trained to

conserve mass and whether that training generalized to

conservation of weight and/or volume. In another experiment,

they investigated the effects on acquisition and generaliza­

tion of altering the training sequence conservation concepts

(i.e. by training volume conservation and probing for

generalization to mass and/or weight conservation) in 4

additional 5 yrs olds. Results of both experiments showed

that training established quickly and durably generalized

correct conservation and that the Ss explanations changed

to conform with acqUisition of conservation. It was also

evident from Experiment 2 that acquisition was unaffected

by altering the sequence of training,

Elbers, E. (1988) discussed differences in studies

of children 1 s conservation abilities. The child who

97

participates in an experiment expects to interact with a

teaching adult. The child's expectations are betrayed in

Piaget's classical conservation experiment since the experi­

menter does not conform to the rules of the teache~student

relationship. The experimenter does confonn to these rules

in experiments in which conservation abilities are taught.

The value of training studies is l.imi ted, however, by the

exclusive attention paid to the child's achievements.

Elbers, E. (1986) proposes a theoretical foundation

for studying the context of interaction and its influence on

cognitive performances and applies communication theory

concepts to the behaviour of experimenter and subject in the

experimental situation. This theoretical foundation can be

better explained in terms of '!-leta-contract of a Teache~

student Interaction' in Piaget's classical conservation

experiment.

Mohanty Ajit and Choudhary, Mahashweri (1981} studied

training for conservation by self-transformation and screen­

ing techniques. The study was designed to test the assumpt­

ions and predictions from a cross cultural model that

conservation of identity is developmentally prior to the

conservation of equivalence and that training using screening

and 1 sel.f transformation' techniques will be effective in

inducing conservation among non-conservers (of equivalence).

A sample of 163 children were given tests of Identity and

Equivalence conservation (of liquid). However, t-wo-thirds

98

of thr transitional children were given training by screening

and self transformation. Result indicated that training .had

significant effect in inducing conservation. Further, the

trained group generalized the e.f!ect to a different test of

conservation; indicating the effect of transfer of training

of conservation properties.

2.121 Effect of Compensation Q!! Conservation:

Gelman and Weinberg (1972) in a study of the opera­

tional understanding of liquid conservation and compensation

in children obtained results showing that modifying the

criteria for compensation aff'ected the nature and the observed

relationship between compensation and conservation. Indivi­

dual compensation tasks were harder than conservation itself

and that the ability to explain compensation develop after

gaining the ability to explain conservation. The investi­

gators, on the basis of their study suggested that a real

sensitivity to compensating factors in conservation like task

settings is in fact not seen in the pre-school period.

Perhaps, elapse ot: some more developing period may help

attaining sensitivity to compensatory factors affecting

conservation properties.

2.122 Relationship Studies on Conservation:

Rao, Narayan, s. and Reddy, I.R.S. (1977) studied

the concepts of causual relation and concept of life employ­

ing 2250 children of age 5+ and 9+. The concepts were

98

studied in relation to schooling, age, locale, sex, mental

ability, socio-economic and educational background of the

family. Their findings indicated that urban children showed

superior performance to the rural ones with regard to the

nature of concept of causual relation acquired by them. At

8+ to 9+, rural boys were significantly superior to urban

boys with regard to the concept of life. No sex and socio­

economic status differences were found although educational

background was found to be significantly related to the

nature of concept of causal relation. Duration o:f schooling

when age was held constant was found to be significantly

related to the nature of concept acquired. The age-ranges

suggested by Piaget could not be strictly adhered to the

level o:f concept acquired by children which largely depends

on the exposure and stimulations provided to them.

Murray, Frank, B. ( 1980) conducted two experiments

with 83 kindergarteners and 1st graders and found that Ss'

responses to a series of conservation tasks (number, length,

mass, weight, etc.) that had animate and inanimate referent

objects, showed significant differences in the proportions

of conservation between animate and inanimate objects.

Physical attributes were conserved more easily with inanimate

than with animate object. Significant conservation differ­

ences were found also between various animate objects.

Shukla, J.P. (1980) studied the relationship betweEn

scientific creativity and conservation and found relatively

higher positive indices of correlation between different

100

components of scientific creativity and conservation in

mass of solid and liquid. Relatively coefficients pertain­

ing to conservation o:f liquid in comparison to solid have

been :found lower.

Amin Najma ( 1981) studied the relationship between

spatial ego-centrism and conservation of length and area.

The main findings indicated high and positive correlation

between perceptual role. Taking both with conservation of

1 ength and area ( + • 70 and + • 71) respectively. Perceptual

role taking may be considered as inversely related with

spatial ego-centrism. As perceptual role-taking is posi ti­

vely and highly related with conservation of area, the

relationship between ego centrism and conservation of length

and ego-centrism and conservation of area may be taken as

highly negative correlation, Intelligence is moderately and

positively correlated with conservation of length and

conservation of area(+ .44 and+ .46 respectively). There

is a negative but moderate relation between intelligence and

spatial ego centrism. Conservation of length and conserva­

tion of area are positively and highly related to each other

(r = + .76). All the coefficients of correlation were

positive and signi:ficant at .01 level.

Halkama, Klaus ( 1988) examined the relationship

between conservation skills and subjective responsibility

(SR) in moral judgement among 50 children of 4 - 7 yrs olds.

L. Kohlberg's (1984) on •togenitic priority hypothesis'

101

advanced by W. Damon (1977), Piaget's notion of heteronomy

as a combination of pre-operational thought and unilateral

respect were also studied, A teaching experiment designed

to induce conservation indicated significant transfer from

conservation to S-R. conservers, were less likely to regress

on SR than non-conservers, Unilateral respect was related

to objective responsibility but not to conservation. Find­

ings failed to support Kohlberg's hypothesis and only partially

support to the Piagetian and Damon model, It is concluded that

SR judgements largely reflect individual judgemental strate­

gies.

2,20 Resume on the Review of Relevant Literature:

Review of relevant literature on various aspects of

conservation of substances of mass, weight and volume of

solid and liquid as well as other conservation phenomena

like number, space, time, movement, causation, etc. indi­

cates that replication of the earlier experimentation undev­

taken by Piaget, Inhelder, Elkind, etc. constituted the very

foundation of studies on conservation, Though numerous

studies have been conducted on conservation; but most of

them are replication studies following the conservation

contents and methodology employed by earlier advocates of

conservation experiments, Significant divergence in the

findings existed across cultures and social cl.imates which

promote cross-cultural studies on conservation with a view

to arriving at universally accepted conclusions.

102

However, some of the trends based on studies conducted

on conservation of substance of mass, weight and volume of

solid and liquid have been given as under:

1. Richliterature is available on the effects of age

on conservation of substances of mass, weight, volume and

number. By and large, results reveal that age has appeared

as the most significant determinant of various kinds of

conservation. However, more of replication studies need to

verify the results by conducting experimental studies across

cUltures. There is a greater need to conduct cross-cultural.

studies on conservation.

2. Numerous studies have also been conducted on effects·

of sex, culture, schooling and SES on conservation of mass,

weight and volume of solid and liquid substances; however,

the studies on non-school; going children from different

cultures and in different social settings have been found

relatively insignificant. Experimental studies on non­

school going children investigating their conservation

process need immediate attention of the investigators.

Cross cultural studies in different developing and under­

developed countries may throw significant light on nature,

kind and degree of conservation of solid and liquid

substances.

3. Among the various topics on conservation that

caught the attention of researchers, perhaps, effects of

training, motivation and incentive on conservation pheno­

mena are more significant ones. Sufficient as well as

103

significant studies have been conducted that reveal as to

how and to what extent, ability to conserve various attri­

butes of nature can be ascertained. Effect of deformation

on conservation has also been studied to a large extent.

4. .Another important feature of the studies on conser-

vation is the relationship between conservation and

certain other biographical and psychological variables. The

effect of cognitive style, cognitive maturity, I.Q., moti­

vational strength, SES, locale, grade, etc. on conservation

constitute other dimensions of studies that need further

explorations.

2.30 Rationale !or Selection of the Present Study:

The resume on the review of relevant literature as

given above conceptualizes the strength and weakness of the

studies conducted on conservation phenomena. It is evident

from the resume that sufficient scope is there to conduct

experimental studies investigating unexplored areas and

aspects of conservation. Schooling effect has been investi­

gated but a comparative study of conservation properties of

school going and non-school going children of different

cultures and social setting require greater attention.

Rather, insignificant and insufficient studies by now have

been undertaken by researchers.

The present study is an attempt to bridge the gap

that exists because of this shortcoming in conservation

studies. Though constitutional provision of a democratic

10~ .

country like India does not allow any child to be away from

schooling because of free and compulsory education upto

14 years of age; however, the problems of culture of

poverty accompanied with problems of drop-outs, stagna­

tion, withdrawal, etc. promote in reality 'non-schooling'

phenomena. Prolonged absence from school i.e. to the

extent of about 20% presence, rather transforms a child

to be called 'Non-school Going' child. A comparative

study on conservation of school going and non-school going

children on the backgrounds of biographical, psychological

and social variations constitute, therefore, the very

subject matter of the present study.