Abstract
Three Piagetian-type problems were used to determine: (a) the relation between success on the check test of conservation of continuous quantities and an overt manifestation of reversibility, (b) the relation between that overt manifestation and explanation criteria, and (c) grade and task differences. 48 kindergarten, first- and second-grade children were tested. On two of the three problems conservation was related to the performance-based solution. Explanations accounted for considerable variance even after the effects of judgments had been removed. The second-graders performed significantly better across tasks than did the kindergarten children. It was suggested that both judgment and explanation criteria are needed to assess cognitive structures.
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