CONSERVATION AS A PREDICTOR OF INDIVIDUAL-DIFFERENCES IN CHILDRENS SUSCEPTIBILITY TO LEADING QUESTIONS

The relationships between susceptibility to leading questions and seve ral individual differences variables-namely number and mass conservati on; self-rated social desirability; and teacher-rated assertive social skills, shyness-anxiousness, and acting out-were examined for 36 firs t graders. As predicted, children whose conservation skills were more advanced were least susceptible to leading questions. However, there w as no reliable direct association with any of the four personality var iables assessed. Results were interpreted as evidence that the ability to simultaneously consider multiple dimensions may be one general cog nitive factor underlying developmental and individual differences in s usceptibility to leading questions.