The Training of Conservation of Number in Young Children

An approach to the training of conservation of number through the presentation of a logical sequence of component concepts or steps was evaluated in a series of 3 experiments using 130 kindergarten children. The Ss were given individual instruction by Es. In addition, part of the instruction was presented by slightly older conserving peers who acted as assistant teachers. The experimental Ss showed significant growth in conservation while the control Ss showed no noticeable growth. The effects of the training were retained at 3 months and generalizability of these effects to conservation of discontinuous quantity was demonstrated. No sex differences were found and only slight differences were revealed in conservation learning between SES groups.