Question

Baby Asha is sitting on the floor when her older brother sits down next to her. He takes her favorite stuffed horse out of her hands, holds it up, and then puts it behind his back. Within a few seconds, Asha begins to cry. Her brother hands the horse back to her, which stops the crying, but he doesn't understand why she didn't just look behind his back for the toy. What would be the reason for this?

a. Asha is in Piaget's formal operations stage of cognitive development and has not yet overcome centration.
b. Asha is in Piaget's concrete operations stage of cognitive development and has not yet overcome conservation.
c. Asha is in Piaget's preoperations stage of cognitive development and has not yet overcome egocentrism.
d. Asha is in Piaget's sensorimotor stage of cognitive development and has not yet mastered object permanence.

Answer 1

Baby Asha is in the sensorimotor stage of cognitive development and has not yet mastered object permanence, which explains why she starts to cry when her favorite toy is taken out of her sight.

Step-by-step explanation:

The reason why Baby Asha cries when her favorite stuffed horse is taken away and doesn't look behind her brother's back for it is related to a concept known as object permanence. This is a term from Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development. The scenario indicates that Asha is in the sensorimotor stage, which is the first stage of cognitive development and lasts from birth to about 2 years old. During the sensorimotor stage, children learn about the world through their senses and motor behaviors. The mastery of object permanence, the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, occurs within this stage. However, since Asha begins to cry when she cannot see the horse, it is clear that she has not yet mastered object permanence. Hence, the correct choice for Asha's behavior is:

d. Asha is in Piaget's sensorimotor stage of cognitive development and has not yet mastered object permanence.