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Discussion Board Essay

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Discussion Board Essay

What are typical cognitive advances of preoperational thought?

The preoperational stage comprises the second stage in Piagets’ theory of cognitive

development. The stage starts around the age of 2 when children start talking and proceed to the

age of 7. During the preoperational stage, the child starts engaging in symbolic performance and

acquires to manipulate symbols despite not yet understand concrete logic. Moreover, during the

preoperational period, the children are becoming increasingly adept in the usage of symbols, as

shown by the increase in pretending and playing (McLeod, 2018). For instance, children can use

objects to represent other symbols, for instance, brooms to represent horses. Additionally, in this

stage, role-playing is also significant where children assume the roles of “mommy,” “doctor,” or

“daddy.” Further, the children develop memory and imagination, enabling them to understand

the difference between the future and past and engage in make-believe. However, their thinking

is not logical, and therefore, the children cannot grasp concepts like time, cause and effect, and

comparisons.

What is centration, and how does it affect thought?

Centration is defined as the tendency of preoperational children to concentrate on an discrete

and distinct aspect of a circumstance and neglect others. According to Piaget, Creation is one of

the primary characteristics of preoperational thought (Mc Graw, 2020). Centration affects

thought by making children concentrate on one single aspect of a situation leaving other

situations. For instance, centration makes it difficult for children to comprehend conservation

which is the awareness that altering the appearance of a substance does not change its

fundamental properties. Children in the preoperational stage are unaware of focusing on more

than one aspect of a situation and show the inability to decenter.

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Do young children have theories of mind?

The theory of mind is the ability to understand that individuals do not share similar thoughts

and feelings. The theory of mind develops as children grow and gain significant experience with

social interactions. Between the start of the age of 4 to five, the children can start to think about

the thoughts and feelings of others, and this depicts the emergence of the theory of mind.

Therefore, children exhibit and develop the theory of the mind from the ages of 4 through to five.
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References

MC Graw. (2020). Cognitive Development in Early Childhood. MC Graw Hill Education.

McLeod, S. (2018). The Preoperational Stage of Cognitive Development. Simply Psychology.