A Study of a Method of Appraising Self-Acceptance and Self-Rejection

The present study challenges Elkind's widely cited report that a large proportion of American college students—particularly female—cannot conserve volume. Thirty male and 30 female college students were tested individually for conservation of volume on three sets of procedure—the first identical to Elkind's, the second involving displacement of water, and the third identical again to Elkind's. By the end of the third task, 49 Ss were conservers and only two were clearly nonconservers. The others probably had conservation competence. There were no sex differences.