Which of the following is a key cognitive limitation observed in children during Piaget's preoperational stage of development?

• A. Children in this stage can easily perform mental operations such as conservation and reversibility.
• B. Children in this stage often exhibit egocentrism, meaning they have difficulty understanding perspectives other than their own.
• C. Children in this stage consistently understand the concept of object permanence.
• D. Children in this stage are able to think abstractly and use hypothetical reasoning.

Answer: (B)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand Piaget's stages of cognitive development, focusing on the preoperational stage, which typically occurs between ages 2 and 7.
2. Step 2: Identify key cognitive abilities and limitations characteristic of the preoperational stage, such as symbolic thinking and language development, but also notable challenges.
3. Step 3: Recognize that children in this stage struggle with mental operations like conservation (understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape) and reversibility (the ability to mentally reverse actions).
4. Step 4: Understand the concept of egocentrism in this stage, where children have difficulty taking the perspective of others and tend to view the world solely from their own point of view.
5. Step 5: Differentiate egocentrism from other cognitive abilities like object permanence (developed earlier) and abstract or hypothetical reasoning (developed later), confirming that egocentrism is a key limitation in the preoperational stage.