Question

Michael, who is a preoperational thinker, watches as a movie character appears to turn from a nice teenager into a werewolf. what is michael's most likely reaction?

Answer 1

During the preoperational stage, children like Michael are likely to experience a fear response to seeing a transformation into a werewolf in a movie because their logic and reasoning are not fully developed, and they often believe fantasy elements to be real.

Step-by-step explanation:

During the preoperational stage of development, which is roughly from ages 2 to 7, children like Michael are learning to use language and symbols to represent objects and ideas, but their logic and reasoning skills are not yet mature. They can engage in pretend play and may believe in fantastical elements such as werewolves without the ability to differentiate fantasy from reality fully. Therefore, Michael's most likely reaction to seeing a character transform into a werewolf would involve a fear response. He's likely to believe that the transformation is real, as his understanding of the world still deeply incorporates elements of fantasy, and he might not have the capacity to comprehend that it is just a special effect in a movie.

Understanding Conservation

Since children in the preoperational stage lack the concept of conservation, they do not understand that altering the appearance of something does not change its fundamental properties or quantities. This is a key reason Michael may interpret the werewolf transformation as real, because he can't yet grasp that a person's identity doesn't change even when their appearance does.

Answer 2

According to Michael's state, preoperational thinker, seeing the mentioned scene would most likely make Michael think that the person has, in fact, became a werewolf which is going to make him feel terrified, petrified or scared.

The preoperational stage is a cognitive development theory that occurs between the ages of 2 to 7. During this stage, children are still learning basic things such as language. A preoperational thinker is able to think about events, places or even represent things but this is done in a very limited manner. That is why it would be easier for Michael to think that the character of the movie turned from a nice teenager into a werewolf.