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etc. This ability of the child to engage in preoperational child would have done? S/he symbolic thought helps to expand her/his is likely to focus on only one aspect-length or mental world. The progress in symbolic height. Concrete operations allow the child to thought continues. A salient feature of focus on different characteristics and not focus preoperational thought is egocentrism (self- on one aspect of the object. This helps the focus), i.e. children see the world only in terms childtoappreciatethattherearedifferent ways of their own selves and are not able to of looking at things, which also results in the appreciate others’ point of view. Children decline of her/his egocentrism. Thinking because of egocentrism, engage in animism - becomes more flexible, and children can think thinking that all things are living, like oneself.about alternatives when solving problems, or They attribute life-like qualities to inanimate objects. For example, if a child while running mentally retrace their steps if required. Even though the preoperational child develops the slips on the road, s/he might show animism ability to see relationships between different by saying “road hurt me”. As children grow properties of an object, s/he cannot do and are approximately between 4 and 7 years of age they want answers to all their questions abstract thinking, i.e. s/he still cannot manipulate ideas in the absence of objects. like: Why is the sky blue? How do trees grow? For example, steps required to complete and so on. Such questions help the child to algebraic equations, or imagining line of know why things are as they are. Piaget called longitude or latitude of the earth. this the stage of intuitive thought. Another feature of thought during preoperational stage The growing cognitive abilities of children facilitate the acquisition of language. You will is characterised by children having a tendency read in Chapter 7, how children develop for centration, i.e. focusing on a single vocabulary and grammar. characteristic or feature for understanding an event. For example, a child may insist on drinking a “big glass” of juice, preferring a tall Activity 3.2 narrow glass to a short broad one, even though both might be holding the same amount of Take two transparent glasses of the same size juice. and pour same amount of water in both. Ask a As the child grows and is approximately child of Class II and Class V of your school: whether the glasses contain the same amount of between 7 and 11 years of age (the period of water? Take another tall thin glass and in front middle and late childhood) intuitive thought of the child empty water from one of the earlier is replaced by logical thought. This is the stage glasses to the third glass. Now ask her/him which of concrete operational thought, which is glass has more water? Did you find any difference made up of operations — mental actions that in their responses? allow the child to do mentally what was done physically before. Concrete operations are also mental actions that are reversible. In a well- Socio-emotional Development : The known test, the child is presented with two important dimensions of children’s socio- identical balls of clay. One ball is rolled by theemotional development are the self, gender experimenter into a long thin strip and the and moral development. During the early other ball remains in its original shape. On years of childhood, some important being asked which has more clay, the child developments in the self take place. The child of 7 or 8 years, would answer that, both have due to socialisation has developed a sense of the same amount of clay. This is because the who s/he is and whom s/he wants to be child imagines the ball rolled into thin strip identified with. The developing sense of and then into a ball, that means s/he is able independence makes children do things in to imagine reversible mental action on their own way. According to Erikson, the way concrete/real objects. What do you think a parents respond to their self-initiated activities 50 Psychology Reprint 2026-27