Does repetition of the question influence children's performance in conservation tasks?

Abstract

Three experiments are reported which evaluate Rose & Blank's claim that repetition of the conservation question in the traditional conservation task is interpreted by the child as a cue to change his judgement. Experiment 1 indicated that repetition of the conservation question per se does not lead to a change of judgement in the child. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the facilitatory influence of Rose & Blank's one‐judgement procedure was specific to number conservation tasks. This procedure was found not to facilitate children's length, weight and liquid conservation responses. Experiment 3 found the one‐judgement procedure not to facilitate correct number conservation judgements in nursery children. These experiments suggest that Rose & Blank's original results were specific to the conservation task and age group they studied. The one‐judgement procedure would appear to promote counting in such tasks.