RELATIONSHIPS AMONG CONSERVATION ABILITIES, AUDITORY AND VISUAL PERCEPTION SKILLS, AND SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT OF FIRST GRADE STUDENT

This study explored relationships among conservation abilities, auditory and visual perception skills, and end-of-the-year achievement in mathematics and reading of selected first grade students.;The population consisted of 50 randomly selected students in five first grade classes of a Central Florida public elementary school which is located in a lower to lower middle class neighborhood of a suburban area.;Data for this study were obtained from three sources. Conservation skills were determined by children's performance with Piagetian-type conservation tasks individually administered. Achievement data were obtained from the results of standardized achievement tests administered by the classroom teacher to each class. Both these sets of data were obtained at the end of the first grade year. Auditory and visual perception skills were determined from the results of the Santa Clara Inventory of Developmental Tasks individually administered by the classroom teachers.;Pearson Correlation Coefficient and Student's t test were the statistical measurements used to compare conservation ability, auditory and visual perception skills, and end-of-the-year achievement test scores in mathematics and reading.;No significant relationship was found to exist between conservation ability and auditory perception. The relationship between conservation ability and visual perception was significant, r = -.36 p < .005, but in favor of the nonconservers. Significant relationships were not found between conservation ability and school achievement in mathematics and reading.;The relationship of auditory perception skills and mathematics achievement was significant, r = .28 p < .02, as was the relationship of auditory perception skills and reading achievement, r = .339 p < .008.;Visual perception skills were significantly related to both mathematics, r = .369 p < .004, and reading achievement, r = .36 p < .005.;A comparison of achievement scores between the sexes indicated that boys scored higher than girls in mathematics, r = .378 p < .003, and in reading, r = .48 p < .000.;A post hoc analysis using three, rather than four, conservation tasks to define conservers gave no difference in the data.