Correct Answer - Option 3 : Cause and effect
Preschool children can identify common properties or a relationship between two objects which are not identical. This ability is called identifying common relations.
Developmental tasks of Preschool children:
- Learning to see a relationship between things. is the basis for making sense of a complex world. As the child sees common relations between pairs, she understands that there are diverse ways of relating objects, i.e., pairs can be of many kinds - opposites, cause and effect, and so on.
- The ability to understand cause-effect relationships lies at the root of all scientific investigations. An understanding of cause and effect conveys to the child that there is an order in things. As the preschooler understands cause and effect relationships, she also knows that she can act upon objects and make things happen. This understanding is the basis for generating hypotheses and predicting results.
- Children often ask, 'What would happen if....?", "What made that happen?" and then link these explanations with what they already know. In this way, their understanding of cause and effect also grows.
- It reflects the preschoolers' reasoning abilities, shows their understanding of cause and effect, and reflects their ability to deal with situations by generating alternative solutions. It will be useful if, as you interact with preschoolers, you keep noting the different abilities they display, the various concepts they seem to understand, and the reasoning abilities they show.
Piaget's four stages of Cognitive Development:
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Stage
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Development
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Sensorimotor Stage (0 to 2 yr)
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At this stage, children use their senses to learn about the world by manipulating objects around them. E.g. the sucking reflex.
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Preoperational Stage (2 to 7yr)
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During this stage, children develop memory and imagination. They are also able to understand things symbolically. The thinking is Egocentric.
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Concrete Operational Stage (7 to 12 yr)
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The child can reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets. Can perform reversible mental operations.
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Formal Operational Stage (12 to adulthood)
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At this stage, children can use logic more abstractly as well as reason hypothetically and plan for the future.
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Hence, we can conclude that while riding a bicycle a boy prompts his sister - "Drive fast! We will reach there earlier". He is showing an understanding of cause and effect.
