Number conservation in children below age six: Its relationship to age, perceptual dimensions, and language comprehension

Assessed the influence of perceptual factors (row length and row density) and language comprehension (same and more) on quantity judgments in 64 children 2-5 yrs old. In addition, number tasks identical to those used by T. G. Bever, J. Mehler, and J. Epstein were administered. Although language comprehension improved with age, it was not until 4 yrs of age that a majority of children understood the logical relation of same to more. The dimensions of density, length, and density-length interfered with correct quantity judgments at all ages. Correct quantity judgments and conservation increased with age. (18 ref)