A second-grade student is able to find her way to and from school primarily due to which cognitive change described in developmental psychology?

• A. The development of spatial reasoning abilities
• B. The emergence of abstract thinking
• C. The onset of formal operational thought
• D. The acquisition of object permanence

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the key cognitive abilities involved in navigation and wayfinding, which primarily relate to understanding and mentally representing spatial environments.
2. Understand that spatial reasoning abilities allow individuals to comprehend and remember the layout of their surroundings, enabling them to find their way to and from familiar places like school.
3. Recognize that abstract thinking and formal operational thought involve higher-level cognitive processes such as hypothetical reasoning and logical problem-solving, which typically develop later and are less directly related to basic navigation skills in young children.
4. Recall that object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not visible, a concept usually mastered in infancy and unrelated to navigation abilities in second graders.
5. Conclude that the cognitive change most relevant to a second-grade student's ability to navigate is the development of spatial reasoning abilities, as this directly supports wayfinding and environmental understanding.