Preoperational Stage
-Ages 2-7
-Verbal communication begins to emerge
-Language development is the most important aspect of preoperational stage
-Walking facilitates language development
-Children are unable to think logically
Two Substages- Preconceptual & Intuitive
1. Preconceptual substage (2-4 years)
- Ability to use symbols to represent someone or something in the child’s life – Dad/certain person and rock/turtle
- Pretend play common
- Egocentrism – deficiency – difficulty visualizing the perspective of others
- Motor activities help by increasing socializing and interacting with others expanding sensitivity
- Flawed thinking (Example: Drooping flower is sad - unrealistic fun)- Transductive reasoning leads to incorrect assumptions (Example: Missed breakfast, so it can’t be morning because I missed breakfast)
2. Intuitive substage (4-7 years)
- Reduced egocentrism
- Improvement in the use of symbols
- Child is incapable of conservation
- Conservation: Ability to recognize that certain properties of a substance remain unchanged when the appearance is rearranged
Example: A ball of clay is in a ball shape, when the ball is elongated the child knows that is it the same clay, no more or less
- Child cannot consider multiple aspects of a problem
- Inability to decenter attention can have significant implication in motor development- Inability to consider multiple aspects of a problem inhibits efforts at games – multiple strategies /movements
-Example – soccer – attention totally on their objective of scoring a goal – not realizing they can also pass the ball to a teammate
-Verbal communication begins to emerge
-Language development is the most important aspect of preoperational stage
-Walking facilitates language development
-Children are unable to think logically
Two Substages- Preconceptual & Intuitive
1. Preconceptual substage (2-4 years)
- Ability to use symbols to represent someone or something in the child’s life – Dad/certain person and rock/turtle
- Pretend play common
- Egocentrism – deficiency – difficulty visualizing the perspective of others
- Motor activities help by increasing socializing and interacting with others expanding sensitivity
- Flawed thinking (Example: Drooping flower is sad - unrealistic fun)- Transductive reasoning leads to incorrect assumptions (Example: Missed breakfast, so it can’t be morning because I missed breakfast)
2. Intuitive substage (4-7 years)
- Reduced egocentrism
- Improvement in the use of symbols
- Child is incapable of conservation
- Conservation: Ability to recognize that certain properties of a substance remain unchanged when the appearance is rearranged
Example: A ball of clay is in a ball shape, when the ball is elongated the child knows that is it the same clay, no more or less
- Child cannot consider multiple aspects of a problem
- Inability to decenter attention can have significant implication in motor development- Inability to consider multiple aspects of a problem inhibits efforts at games – multiple strategies /movements
-Example – soccer – attention totally on their objective of scoring a goal – not realizing they can also pass the ball to a teammate