A child seen playing at the beach has first poured a bucket of sand into a short, fat container and then another bucket into a tall, thin container.When asked which container holds more sand, the child points to the tall, thin container.This response suggests that she is at Piaget's stage of cognitive development.
A)formal operational
B)preoperational
C)sensorimotor
D)concrete operational

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

At Piaget's preoperational stage of cognitive development, children have not yet developed the concept of conservation, which means that they do not understand that changing the shape or appearance of an object does not change its quantity. Therefore, the child in this scenario is likely to be focused on the appearance of the containers and is not able to understand that the amount of sand in the short, fat container and the tall, thin container is the same. This is why she points to the tall, thin container as holding more sand.

A Child Seen Playing at the Beach Has First Poured