Abstract

The goal of this study was to explain number conservation acquisition according to a cusp model that combines catastrophe-theory and neo-Piagetian theoretical concepts. In an experiment with kindergarteners and first-graders, five out of the eight catastrophe flags that are markers of discontinuous phenomena were detected and are discussed as supportive evidence for the model. The most adequate cognitive control parameter was field independence. The number of elements in the sets used in the conservation task (the perceptual variable) affected kindergarteners, but not first-graders.