Preoperational Stage of Cognitive Development
Egocentrism:
This is the ability to see a situation from another person's point of views. According to Piaget, the egocentric child assumes that other people see, hear, and feel exactly the same as he/she does. Gradually during this stage, a certain amount of decentering occurs. This means that the child stops believing that they are the center of the world and they are able to imagine that something or someone else could be the center of attention.
"Three Mountain Task"
Children are asked to describe a scene they had observed. Most children are able to do this with little difficulty. Next, they are asked to describe what someone else had observed when looking at the mountain from a different viewpoint. Children almost always describe the scene showing their own view of the mountain scene. They experience this difficulty because they are unable to take on another person's perspective (McLeod, 2010).
This is the ability to see a situation from another person's point of views. According to Piaget, the egocentric child assumes that other people see, hear, and feel exactly the same as he/she does. Gradually during this stage, a certain amount of decentering occurs. This means that the child stops believing that they are the center of the world and they are able to imagine that something or someone else could be the center of attention.
"Three Mountain Task"
Children are asked to describe a scene they had observed. Most children are able to do this with little difficulty. Next, they are asked to describe what someone else had observed when looking at the mountain from a different viewpoint. Children almost always describe the scene showing their own view of the mountain scene. They experience this difficulty because they are unable to take on another person's perspective (McLeod, 2010).