Response Alternation as an Artifact in Conservation Research

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Abstract
Studies have repeatedly shown that young children produce a high rate of response alternation in problem-solving situations requiring simple yes-no responses that can only be solved by guessing. Because the conservation task contains elements that are confusing to young children, we predicted that children would use such a strategy of response alternation in the conservation experiment. In our experiment 221 children between 4 years, 6 months and 7 years of age were presented with a conservation of number problem. The task was designed in such a way that a strategy of response alternation could be distinguished from a tendency (suggested by Rose and Blank, 1974) to revise the response because they interpret the repetition of the question as a signal that the first answer was incorrect. The hypothesis was supported. The tendency to alternate was found particularly in children between 5 years, 4 months and 6 years, 1 month of age. Older children replaced response alternation by more adequate problem-solving strategies.