Gehlbach, H. (2010). The social side of school: Why teachers need social psychology. Educational Psychology Review, 22, 349-362. Sensory Play: Activities like water play, sand play, or playdough encourage exploration through touch. In contrast, children in the concrete operational stage can solve conservation problems. This is because children now have the following cognitive abilities: In this stage, children also learn more about categorization. They can classify items based on similarities or differences. They also start to understand numbers and quantity (e.g., concepts such as ‘more’ or ‘bigger’). Once the new information is acquired the process of assimilation with the new schema will continue until the next time we need to make an adjustment to it.

Schemas are mental structures that contain all of the information relating to one aspect of the world around us. Thinks about and begins to form his or her own code of ethics (for example, What do I think is right?) Children’s ability to understand, think about, and solve problems in the world develops in a stop-start, discontinuous manner (rather than gradual changes over time). Centration is the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a situation at one time. When a child can focus on more than one aspect of a situation, at the same time, they have the ability to decenter.

Download 3 Free Positive Psychology Exercises (PDF)

This active engagement with the environment is crucial because it allows them to gradually build their understanding of the world. Toddlers often pretend to be people they are not (e.g. superheroes, policemen), and may play these roles with props that symbolize real-life objects. Children may also invent an imaginary playmate. Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes: Begins to form and speak his or her own thoughts and views on many topics. You may hear your child talk about which sports or groups he or she prefers, what kinds of personal appearance is attractive, and what parental rules should be changed. A child’s thinking is dominated by how the world looks, not how the world is. It is not yet capable of logical (problem-solving) type of thought.

According to Piaget, at age 7, thinking is no longer egocentric, as the child can see more than their own point of view. They view it as an integral part of their identity, with most using it extensively in their daily lives, from keeping in touch with loved ones to consuming news and entertainment (Nielsen, 2014). Some children may be able to use logical operations in schoolwork long before they can use them for personal problems.Adolescents can think systematically and reason about what might be as well as what is (not everyone achieves this stage). This allows them to understand politics, ethics, and science fiction, as well as to engage in scientific reasoning.