Seven-year-old Marvin and his four-year-old brother are sitting at the table as their mother pours milk into their glasses.Both glasses are the same size and shape.However,Marvin's mother notices a scratch/nick on the lip of his glass,and decides that it is safer if she pours that milk into another glass for Marvin so he doesn't cut his lip.The new glass is shorter and much wider,and when she pours the milk into the new glass Marvin's younger brother laughs and says that now he has more milk than Marvin.However,Marvin is not upset because he knows that he still got the same amount of milk.Marvin is exhibiting

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Marvin's lack of upsetness despite the change in appearance of the glass shows that he can decenter and understand that the amount of milk did not change even though the glass did. This is a characteristic of the concrete operational stage. However, he is not exhibiting abstract operational thinking as this stage occurs during adolescence and involves more complex and abstract reasoning. The preoperational stage is characterized by egocentric thinking and an inability to understand conservation.

Seven-Year-Old Marvin and His Four-Year-Old Brother Are Sitting at the Table