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Judgment of the Vertical as a Function of Stimulus Characteristics, Age, and Sex

Previous research has shown sex differences in Ss' performance on Piaget's "waterline task" which assesses the conception of the horizontal (3, 4) . Female Ss tend to represent the level of liquid in a container in relation to the sides, top and bottom and other "straight-line" characteristics rather than in reference to the absolute horizontal. The present study investigates the influences of straight-line characteristics on judgments of the vertical. Five stimulus displays were prepared; these varied in the degree to which straightline characteristics were present and inconsistent with the correct representation of the vertical. All five displays consisted of a Styrofoam "mountain" (curved or triangular) placed over painted plywood background (circular or square). These displays were presented to Ss in the plane perpendicular to the table surface. Ss were 24 first graders and 24 third graders, equal numbers of each sex. Each S was seen privately by two 20-yr.-old white male Es. S was asked (in a story context) to place a cardboard "telephone pole" on the mountain "the way it should look." Each S had 10 trials, 2 for each stimulus display. The results showed no statistically significant stimulus-display differences for any grade-sex group. There were no statistically significant differences for grade or sex. It appears that significant sex differences persisting into maturity such as are found on the Piaget horizontalicy task probably do not exist. The absence of differences between grades in an age range where they have previously been found suggests that this particular adapted version of Piaget's task is considerably easier than the previous versions. If so, this experimental situation provides one more of a cumulating number of instances of the influence of specific materials and procedural details (e.g., 1, 2 ) .