This paper contains a review of the small literature on the association of rural/urban residence and attainment of distance conservation among African children and an account of a study of the age at which children in Sierra Leone, West Africa, attain conservation. 150 children from the ages of 8 to 18 years, from rural and urban schools, were assigned Piagetian tasks to judge their conservation of distance. Analysis showed that at 11 + years, conservation was observed and that there was no significant difference between the urban sample and the rural one. Several confounds in the data limit conclusions but use of the children's own languages was possible in some experiments.

This study reviews the literature on the topic of sex dimension as it affects the attainment of the conservation of distance among African children in Sierra Leone. An investigation was done to determine the age at which these children attain conservation. Subjects were primary school children from different parts of the country who ranged from classes (grade levels) II to VII. It was found that the age of conservation was 12 years and that males in the sample performed better than females. This is in line with conclusions drawn from similar studies of African children.

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