Final answer:
The Three-Mountain Task, devised by Piaget and Inhelder, demonstrates egocentrism in the preoperational stage by having a child explain what someone else sees from a different viewpoint, illustrating the challenge children have in understanding perspectives different from their own.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Egocentrism in Piaget's Preoperational Stage
Piaget and Inhelder devised the Three-Mountain Task to demonstrate egocentrism during the preoperational stage of cognitive development. In this classic experiment, children view a 3-dimensional mountain scene from one vantage point and then are asked to describe what someone else, looking from a different angle, would see. This task illustrates the preoperational child's tendency to be egocentric, as they often struggle to understand that others may have a different perspective.
During the preoperational stage, which spans approximately ages 2 to 7, children begin to engage in symbolic play and use language, but their understanding is still very much based on their own point of view. They do not yet possess the ability to carry out operations - which are internalized, reversible mental actions - making tasks like the Three-Mountain Task difficult.
An gocentric child, like the character Kenny discussed in examples, displays a lack of awareness that other people see and understand the world differently. Such children select gifts based on their own preferences, not recognizing that another's likes and dislikes might be different. Piaget's studies in cognitive development, including the Three-Mountain Task, have provided great insight into how children's thought processes evolve as they grow.