James and Maria are children of normal intelligence in Mrs. Bittner's class. Mrs. Bittner has two containers (one long and thin, one short and fat). She fills the short one with the colored liquid, then she pours the liquid (without spilling any) into the tall thin container. James believes there is now more liquid in the tall container, even though no water has been added. Maria laughs at him and cannot understand his reasoning. She says that the amount of liquid has remained the same.

1. Which of Piaget's stages is James in?

Select one:

a. Formal operations

b. Concrete operations

c. Pre-operational

d. Sensorimotor

Answer: The correct option is C. Pre-operational stage.

Explanation: According to Piaget, the Pre-operational stage is a stage in which a child's cognitive development has not been fully established. This period will usually begin at toddlerhood, around 18-24 months and last through to the age of 7.

At this stage, a child has not yet developed the notion of quantity, therefore, the ability to solve problems like the example given above, has also not been developed due to the fact that logical thinking has not been established.

In the scenario given in the question above, James is not able solve this problem because his cognitive abilities and logical thinking is still developing.

James is in the: c. Pre operational stage.

Explanation:

This is a stage in which children's cognitive development is not totally stablished. This means that the notion of quantity is not developed. In this period the ability to solve problems is not there yet because logical thinking is missing.

James is not ready to solve this problem, because his logigal thinking is still developing.

When he steps into the other stage, which is concrete operations, in which Maria is at, he would be able to stablish the notion of liquid and the idea of concervation despite the shape of the recipient the liquid is in.