The preoperational stage The preoperational stage is one of the four Piaget stages. It occurs between the ages of two and seven. There are limitations to the child's thoughts during this stage. What the child sees is automatically what is real to him. This stage is a very visual stage for a baby. In this phase children present a lack of conservation, a lack of identity constancy and egocentrism. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay There is a lack of retention among children during this period of their lives. According to Piaget, conservation is basically the amount of a substance that remains the same regardless of whether it has changed shape or form. Children do not have the ability to understand “conservation”. An example of a child's lack of retention skills is when a child is shown two glasses of milk with the same amount. Then the adult will pour a glass of milk into a larger and thinner one. The child usually says that the larger, thinner glass of milk contains more liquid than the first glass, when in reality they contain the same amount. Children cannot understand that a task can be reversed. Children of this age usually watch what they think is the best. They will usually choose the most visually appealing element, called Centering. Centering will influence class inclusion: “the understanding that a general category can encompass several subordinate elements” (Belsky 147). Children will not look at the bigger picture and draw conclusions rather quickly than an older person would. Conservation is something a child will learn as they grow. During this stage, children will not have identity constancy. Children will not be able to know that a person wearing a costume is not real; but to them it's real because it's what they see. They don't know that the person is still themselves inside, despite what they see on the outside. Animism is also very important at this stage. Children believe that inanimate objects have feelings and abilities similar to those of humans. I think a lot of people can relate to this, having a teddy bear and thinking that it has feelings. And between the ages of two and seven, children also think that their parents or any adult is capable of doing anything. This is called artificialism. Many children go through this stage in life, where they believe that humans are capable of doing impossible things. Children simply look at what they see and automatically believe it. Finally, egocentrism is an important element during the preoperative phase. Young children do not know that other people have different beliefs or thoughts. They believe that everything revolves around them, but not in a presumptuous way. Children at this age simply don't have much awareness of their surroundings; they think that whatever they believe is what others believe too. Self-centeredness among children does not last forever, because they will learn and gain awareness as they grow older. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay During the preoperational period, children do not have much awareness and are self-centered, have no constancy or preservation of identity. During the first years of life a child does not have the ability to learn about his surroundings. The thought process of a child is very different from that of an older person. That's why they always say that the elderly are.