Abstract
By direct observation, 203 fourth-graders confirmed the conservation of combined weights of sugar and water as measured before and after dissolving. Prior to this confirmation, experimental group subjects were required to choose one of three alternatives of a conservation problem and were presented with a fictitious choice response distribution with conflicting reasons. Control group subjects were given only the multiple-choice problem. Experimental group subjects showed (a) stronger curiosity for confirmation by observation, (b) greater progress in generalizing the principle of weight conservation to a variety of situations, and (c) higher positive correlation between curiosity and amount of progress.
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