Various aspects of Piaget's cognitive theory have been elaborately investigated in many countries. However, his concept of horizontal decalage—which postulates a temporal sequence in which children attain the various conservations—appears not to have received similar attention especially in Nigeria. The current study compared the performances of 247 subjects on substance and volume tasks. There was a consistently better mean score on substance tasks and the difference was statistically significant in favour of substance on the immediate but not the delayed posttest. While this outcome showed a very strong inclination toward confirming horizontal decalage, evidence was not statistically conclusive. Some ecocultural variables were discussed.
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