Generality of Decentering in First through Fourth Grade Children

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Abstract
The consistency of children's decentering ability, the ability to consider and coordinate simultaneously differing pieces of information, was assessed by administering to 96 first-through fourth-grade children (48 boys, 48 girls) tasks of cognitive perspective taking, peer description, humor appreciation, and causal attribution, as well as an independent assessment of decentering, the conservation of liquid task. Mean scores increased linearly with grade level and sex differences were nonsignificant. Little support was obtained for the convergent validity of decentering and questions are raised concerning the extent to which decentering can be considered independently of both the content area in which it occurs and other cognitive factors necessary for task performance.