Abstract
A standardized version of Piaget and Inhelder's conservation of horizontality or Water-level Task, the Preschool Embedded Figures Test, and a measure of mental processing called Mr. Cucui were administered to 42 4-yr.-olds. There was a significant correlation of .28 between Mr. Cucui and the horizontal/vertical subscore of the Water-level Task, but no significant inter-correlations with the field independence/dependence measure or the tilted bottles subscore of the Water-level Task. The significant correlation between Mr. Cucui and the horizontal/vertical bottles was discussed from the neoPiagetian perspective of Pascual-Leone's theory of constructive operators. Particular attention was paid to the “field effects” of the inverse, vertical bottles—aspects of figurative structures and the ensuing demands on mental processing.