Observational Learning of Quantity Conservation in Relation to the Degree of Cognitive Conflict

Abstract

To validate an explanation of observational learning of conservation in terms of a cognitive conflict between the nonconserver's and the conserving model's answers, five degrees of conflict were defined according to the activity interpolated between the experimenter's question and the model's answer. The five situations were as follows: the intervening activity was unrelated to conservation, no specific activity was suggested during observation, children were asked to answer either covertly or overtly the experimenter's question, and children were requested to speak their expectation of the model's answer. In the control situation observation was not interrupted. The adult model correctly performed a brief task on conservation of quantity. In all situations except the one involving the irrelevant task, substantial and comparable acquisition and generalization were obtained on immediate and 7-wk. delayed posttests. During observation subjects assigned to situations requiring overt answers rapidly adopted the conservation response. The validity of the concept of conflict was questioned, and generalization was attributed to the cognitive reorganization induced by covert or overt application of modeled conservation.