A Theoretical Analysis of Cross-Cultural Research in Cognitive Development: Piaget's Conservation Task

Abstract

Cross-cultural studies of the conservation of continuous quantities are reviewed and the conservation task is analyzed into three essential components. A theoretical framework is presented for interpreting cross-cultural studies of conservation, and the applicability of such a framework to existing empirical results is demonstrated. The importance of this and similar cross-cultural analyses to a theoretical understanding of the development of cognitive processes is discussed.