Which cognitive process, identified by Piaget, causes a younger child to focus on one aspect of a problem and ignore other aspects?

Which cognitive process, identified by Piaget, causes a younger child to focus on one aspect of a problem and ignore other aspects?

• A. Assimilation
• B. Centration
• C. Accommodation
• D. Equilibration

Answer: (B)

Centration is the tendency of younger children in Piaget's preoperational stage to focus on one aspect of a problem while ignoring other relevant features. This explains why a child might say there is more liquid in a tall, narrow glass than in a short, wide one, even when the amount of liquid is the same: the child centers on the height, not on volume. As children grow, they learn to decenter, considering multiple aspects and using reversible thinking. Assimilation involves fitting new information into existing schemas, accommodation is changing schemas to fit new information, and equilibration is the process of moving between these states to achieve cognitive balance. These describe how knowledge changes, not the tendency to fixate on a single dimension.

Centration is the tendency of younger children in Piaget's preoperational stage to focus on one aspect of a problem while ignoring other relevant features. This explains why a child might say there is more liquid in a tall, narrow glass than in a short, wide one, even when the amount of liquid is the same: the child centers on the height, not on volume. As children grow, they learn to decenter, considering multiple aspects and using reversible thinking.

Assimilation involves fitting new information into existing schemas, accommodation is changing schemas to fit new information, and equilibration is the process of moving between these states to achieve cognitive balance. These describe how knowledge changes, not the tendency to fixate on a single dimension.