Answer the following questions by selecting the correct/most appropriate option.

Four-year-old Aparna says that a button is alive because it helps tie her shirt together. According to Jean Piaget, her thinking is characterized by:

Correct option is C

According to Jean Piaget, animistic thinking refers to the attribution of life and lifelike qualities to inanimate objects, a characteristic of the preoperational stage of cognitive development (ages 2 to 7 years). In this stage, children believe that objects have feelings, intentions, or purposes. Aparna’s belief that a button is "alive" because it helps tie her shirt reflects animism, as she is ascribing lifelike qualities to a non-living object.

Piaget noted that this form of thinking arises because young children are not yet capable of distinguishing between the physical and psychological properties of objects. Animistic thinking gradually diminishes as children develop logical reasoning in the concrete operational stage (ages 7 to 11 years).

Information Booster:

1. Piaget's preoperational stage emphasizes symbolic thought but limited logical reasoning.
2. Animistic thinking is common in younger children as they explore their environment.
3. Egocentrism also defines this stage, where children view the world from their perspective.
4. Concrete operational stage sees the decline of animistic and egocentric thought.
5. Role-play and imaginative play often exhibit animistic thinking.
6. Understanding the difference between animate and inanimate develops with cognitive maturity.

Additional Knowledge:

• Hypothetical-deductive thinking (Option A): This is a feature of the formal operational stage (around 11 years and older). It involves forming hypotheses and systematically testing them, far beyond the cognitive abilities of a 4-year-old.
• Transductive reasoning (Option B): Common in the preoperational stage, this involves linking unrelated events. For example, a child might think, "It rained because I forgot my umbrella." However, this reasoning differs from animism.
• Animistic thinking (Option C): This involves attributing human-like qualities to inanimate objects, as in Aparna’s case. It reflects the symbolic but illogical thinking of the preoperational stage.
• Centration (Option D): Refers to focusing on one aspect of a situation while ignoring others. For instance, a child might focus only on the height of a liquid in a glass, ignoring its width when judging quantity.