A child has an eight-ounce cup full of juice. While he watches, you pour the juice from the cup into a quart jar. He gets upset, because he thinks he now has less juice. The child is most likely in Piaget's _______ stage of cognitive development.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In Piaget's theory of cognitive development, children in the preoperational stage (ages 2-7) lack the concept of conservation, which means they do not understand that the amount of a substance remains the same even if its appearance changes. The child in this scenario believes that the cup of juice has less juice in it because it now looks smaller in the larger quart jar.

A Child Has an Eight-Ounce Cup Full of Juice