A 4-year-old child is speaking on the phone with her grandmother, and instead of verbally responding to her grandmother's questions, she shakes and nods her head. This child thinks that her grandmother can see her gestures and is demonstrating ________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The child is demonstrating egocentrism, a concept from Piaget's theory of cognitive development, which suggests that the child is unable to understand that others have different perspectives from their own. In this case, the child assumes her grandmother can see her nodding or shaking her head, not realizing that her perspective is not shared.

A 4-Year-Old Child Is Speaking on the Phone with Her