Psychology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

Psychology - Essay Example The child learns to anticipate S and make R in anticipation of changes in S. For instance, in trying to reach for a dangling toy, the child makes adjustive steps or positions to reach it in the direction he finds most accessible. A bottle of milk is sucked at the end nipple which he has associated with the source of milk. The pre-operational thought period can be most understood by two concepts: Pre-conceptual stage (2-4 years) and Intuitive phase (4-7 years). During the pre-conceptual stage, the child starts to use different kinds of symbols in play behavior and in language. Wherein, play activities may take in the form of imaginary situations and objects. In the intuitive phase, the child is now able to respond to groups of objects. The child is able to classify objects’ size and shapes. There is now a finer distinction in specific concepts. The principles of reversibility and conservation are acquired. For instance, that the objects are not altered with change in the way they appear. The capacity for logic and reasoning are well-developed in the later stages with respect to concrete and specific objects. The child develops space concepts in the following geometric order: first, nearness, separation, enclosure (Geoghegan et al 1963). There are two characteristics of in the child’s intuitive stage. 1) Egocentricism – the child’s inability to take the point of view of another and 2) Emphasis on successive states of a situation rather than transformations by which one state grades into another. This means that the child doesn’t have a grasp of the facts that the situation can change gradually and grade into a new one; he only emphasizes the beginning and end states. In the period of concrete operations, the child is less egocentric and is able to group objects and events on concrete observations. At this stage, the child is able to think on various concrete