George understands that when objects are out of view, they continue to exist. However, George does not seem to understand that when their sister sits on the other side of the room, they do not see exactly what George sees. According to Piaget, how old is George likely to be?

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The scenario hinges on Piagetian concepts of object permanence and egocentrism within early childhood.
Option 1: 4 years old. This fits the idea that a child at around age 4 begins to decenter and understand that others can have different perspectives from their own, while still having developing logical thinking about objects and space. He already understands that objects exist when out of view (object permanence) but may still struggle with seeing that another person’s view can be different from his own.
Option 2: 8 years old. At this age, children have typically mastered many perspective-taking tasks and show fully developed theory of mind abilities in basic social situations. The described egocentric misperception at this age would be unlikely.
Option 3: 10 years old. By this age, children generally have well-developed perspective-taking and would readily grasp that someone else can see things differently. The described misunderstanding would not align with typical Piagetian expectations for a child of this age.
Option 4: 18 months. At this stage, infants are still in the sensorimotor phase where object permanence is emerging or recently established, but egocentrism is strong and understanding that others see differently from oneself is not present. This would not explain the specific perspective error described.
Option 5: 12 months. Similar to 18 months, at 12 months object permanence is just beginning, and the child would not yet demonstrate the level of perspective-taking (or lack thereof) described in the scenario.
In summary, the described combination of knowing objects exist when hidden but failing to recognize another’s different viewpoint aligns best with an age around 4 years, when egocentrism is waning but still present enough to produce the error described.

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George understands that when objects are out of view, they continue to exist. However, George does not seem to understand that when their sister sits on the other side of the room, they do not see exactly what George sees. According to Piaget, how old is George likely to be?

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