Ivan's mother takes some play dough from a small box and makes a long cylindrical model of a rocket for him. Ivan believes that the play dough will not fit into the box anymore because the shape of the play dough has now changed. The limitation of Ivan's preoperational thought illustrated in the scenario is referred to as
A) decentration.
B) seriation.
C) irreversibility.
D) ordinality.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Ivan's belief that the play dough cannot return to its original box due to a change in shape demonstrates irreversibility, a concept in Piaget's theory of cognitive development. This concept refers to the preoperational child's difficulty in understanding that an action can be done and undone, or that objects can change form and still maintain their volume or amount.

Ivan's Mother Takes Some Play Dough from a Small Box