Piaget and the Mende of Sierra Leone

Piaget’s (4) principle of conservation of quantity has been demonstrated by many researchers to apply to American, European, and West African children. This investigation set out to determine the relevance of Piaget’s ideas to a particular ethnic group in Sierra Leone. Mende pupils (N=231) of three age groups in sixteen schools located in towns or villages in four districts were interviewed on three tasks. The results showed that pupils in the 7 to 8 year age group received significantly higher (p <. 01) scores than those younger than 7. It was concluded that conservation of quantity varies with chronological age and task and that there are individual differences.