The preoperative phase is the second of four stages of child development, lasting from ages two to six. Children in this stage are strongly influenced by their perceptions and struggle with concepts like conservation and egocentrism. They also acquire language and explore fantasy and imagination.
The preoperative phase is a phase of child development according to the four-phase system proposed by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. Piaget divided childhood development into distinct stages marked by major functional changes in thinking and psychology. Understanding these stages is important for assessing children as they grow up and for understanding how to approach young children in a way they will find accessible. Psychologists, educators, and people who work with children in law enforcement roles are all interested in developmental stages and how they affect children.
The preoperative stage is the second of the four stages, lasting between the ages of two and six, right around the time a child starts school. It is sometimes broken down into two smaller stages, the symbolic function and the intuitive thinking stages. One of the key features of the preoperative stage is that it marks the time when a child begins to acquire language, which marks a major change in the way a person’s brain works.
In the preoperative stage, children are strongly influenced by their perceptions. For example, they don’t understand conservation, a concept described by Piaget. Children who struggle with preservation have a hard time understanding that the amount of something can stay the same despite physical transformations. For example, if a child is shown two identical containers filled with the same amount of juice, and the juice is poured into two different containers, the child will think that one contains more liquid, not realizing that the same amount of juice is contained in each container.
The preoperative stage is also marked by egocentrism, in which a child is unable to think about something from someone else’s point of view. Children also have problems with logic and abstract thinking during the preoperative stage because so much of their knowledge is based on perception.
Being in the preoperative stage brings about some major changes in thinking and cognitive development. In addition to acquiring language, children also begin to explore fantasy and imagination. With language acquisition comes an understanding of the idea that something can be represented even if it is actually present; for example, the word “banana” describes a banana, just as does a picture of a banana, even though the banana itself isn’t around. Kids also start playing with ideas like pretending objects are other things, turning sticks into wands, sheets into superhero capes, and rocks into pets with the power of imagination.
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