AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Major characteristics and developmental changes during this stage: Begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to represent objects. Tend to be egocentric and struggle to see things from the perspective of others.

Detailed explanation-2: -Centration is one of the reasons that young children have difficulty understanding the concept of conservation. Conservation is the awareness that altering a substance’s appearance does not change its basic properties. Children at this stage are unaware of conservation and exhibit centration.

Detailed explanation-3: -Conservation of mass and length occurs around age 7, conservation of weight around age 9, and conservation of volume around 11. Piaget’s studies of conservation led him to observe the stages which children pass through when gaining the ability to conserve.

Detailed explanation-4: -The hallmark of the Preoperational Stage is sparse and logically inadequate mental operations. During this stage, the child learns to use and to represent objects by images, words and drawings. The child is able to form stable concepts as well as mental reasoning and magical beliefs.

Detailed explanation-5: -For example, pouring the water out of the glass back into the original cup would demonstrate the volume of the water, but children in the preoperational stage cannot understand this. In contrast, children in the concrete operational stage can solve conservation problems.