3. The Pre-Operational Stage

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about the pre-operational stage (2-7 years), focusing in particular on: (i) limitations of the pre-operational child, namely mental manipulation of objects; (ii) Piaget’s conversation task; (iii) the pre-operational child’s egocentrism, rendering them unable to view the world from a perspective other than their own; (iv) Piaget’s three mountain task as a way of measuring a child’s ability to overcome that egocentric view.

Course

This course, by Dr Richard O’Connor (University of Hull), explored Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. In the first module, we think about the key concepts of Piaget’s theory and his proposed stages of cognitive development, before focusing on each stage in turn. In the second module, we think about the sensorimotor stage, from 0-2 years, focusing on object permanence. In the third module, we think about the pre-operational stage, from 2-7 years, focusing on conservation and egocentrism. Next, we think about the stages of concrete and formal operations. In the fifth and final module, we think about the influence Piaget’s theory of cognitive development has had and continues to have on research in the field of developmental psychology.

Lecturer

Dr Richard O’Connor is a cognitive developmental psychology in the Faculty of Health Sciences and School of Psychology and Social Work at the University of Hull. Dr O’Connor’s research interests include theory of mind and word learning. Some of Dr O’Connor’s recent publications include Autistic Adults Show Similar Performance and Sensitivity to Social Cues on a Visual Perspective Taking Task as Non-autistic Adults (In Press) and Stroop interference is a composite phenomenon: Evidence from distinct developmental trajectories of its components (2020).