Conservation and Sex

Sex differences have often been compared incidentally in studies of Piagetian conservation. Most results showed no sex differences related to the acquisition of conservation (1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9) and support Piaget's conclusions that sex differences are insignificant. Conversely, several studies have reported sex differences in favor of male Ss (4, 5. 8) . Goldschmid's (4) examination of the relation of sex to types of conservation indicated that boys performed on a higher level than girls on all tested tasks of conservation including conservation of substance, weight, quantity, discontinuous quantity, number, area, distance, length, twoand three-dimensional space. In the present study 46 boys, 35 girls in first grade in two public elementary schools in the Grand Forks, North Dakota area were given five conservation of number and substance tasks. Girls conserved more often on 4 of the 5 tasks and significantly ( p < .01) so on cwo conservation of substance tasks. The one task on which boys conserved more often (conservation of number) showed no significant differences. These results are in contradiction to earlier reported studies and indicate that sex differences are related to conservation of substance. These conservation tasks were administered by a young woman but in most studies E has been male. It seems sex of tester should be evaluated.