Miss Johnson gave Mark and Tia equal sized lumps of clay. Tia immediately rolled hers into a long shape. Mark cried and complained that Tia had received more clay. Mark's behavior represents:

A) an inability to accommodate.
B) an inability to conserve.
C) difficulty with formal operational tasks.
D) an inability to assimilate.

Answer: B
Rationale: Conservation is the knowledge that the quantity or amount of an object is not related to the physical arrangement and appearance of that object. In this example, Mark does not understand that the total amount of clay is conserved as it is reshaped.