To establish whether data on the social learning of conservation are compatible with Piaget's position, it is important to determine if the observationally acquired conservation meets Piagetian generalization and stability criteria. During a single brief observation period, first-grade children observed the correct performance of an adult model on an easy quantity conservation task. Children were then submitted to a series of generalization tasks on immediate, 1-week, and 3-month delayed posttests. On the whole, the experimental group generalized conservation to several tasks. One category of children behaved as rote learners and maintained conservation only for tasks closely similar to the modeled task and on immediate and 1-week delayed posttests; a second group of genuine conservers progressively generalized the conservation rule to more difficult tasks. A control (no observation) group remained nonconserving throughout. Results were explained with reference to the Piagetian concept of sequential equilibration. The social experience of observation appeared to activate a cognitive restructuring of the children's mental operations.

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