The Importance of the Verbal Content in the Training of Piagetian Conservation Skills

Abstract

FIELD, DOROTHY. The Importance of the Verbal Content in the Training of Piagetian Conservation Skills. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1977, 48, 1583-1592. Experiments using Piagetian tasks to probe the cognitive capacities of retarded children have shown that verbal-rule explanations are most facilitative for conservation acquisition. To determine the crucial components of the verbal rule, a 2 X 2 X 2 factorial design provided training in identity, reversibility, and compensation explanations, alone and in every combination, for eight matched groups of 48 mildly retarded, nonconserving children. Significant differences between groups were found on the posttest, particularly in the amount of generalization to untrained quantities. Identity was the primary factor in conservation acquisition; reversibility was important as well. Compensation strategy proved to be of no value to these children. Justifications offered by the subjects also were analyzed. There were significant differences in the kinds of justifications given, but these justifications did not follow directly from the kinds of training received. The quantity itself seemed to dictate the rationale: number conservation produced mostly identity justifications, for instance, and length conservation usually produced reversibility answers, regardless of training given.