Factorial Analysis of Children's Conservation Task Performance

Abstract

WINKELMANN, WOLFGANG. Factorial Analysis of Children's Conservation Task Performance. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1974, 45, 843-848. 31 conservation items, some using concrete materials and some in paper form, were administered to 281 5-8-year-old children. A factorial analysis yielded 4 factors: factor I-conservation of substance equality or identity (CSE), factor IIconservation of substance inequality (CSI), factor III---conservation of number equality (CNE), and factor IV--conservation of number inequality (CNI). These factors were confirmed in separate analyses for the concrete items and for the paper items. The factor structure was cross-validated in a second sample of 280 children aged 5-8 to whom the paper items were given with modified instructions. These data call the Piagetian concept of structures d'ensemble and stage into question.