Activity 3.2

According to Piaget’s stages of development, most children in the video (all but one) would be considered in the “preoperational” stage, which is the second out of Piaget’s four stages and typical of the ages between two and seven. Piaget claims that children in this developmental stage are preoccupied with what is concrete and physical, thus explaining why the children pinpointed the tall, skinny cup as having more juice or the row of spread out quarters as having a larger quantity. Similarly, James identifies the same age group as being interested in the “sensible properties of the material things” (92). It is only later, James argues that only later in adolescence that “the mind grows able to take in the more abstract aspects of experience” (93). What James suggests in accordance to age and appropriateness of teaching material concurs with the theory of Piaget: as the individual grows, so does the capabilities of the mind and thus, the ability for more complex reasoning.