Final answer:
Shana, being in middle childhood, understands the idiomatic expression "I'm wiped out!" to mean being tired. Her sister Megan, in early childhood, interprets it literally due to her developmental stage. This exemplifies the differing cognitive and language developments between early and middle childhood.
Step-by-step explanation:
Shana, being 10 years old, is in middle childhood and understands idiomatic phrases such as "I’m wiped out!" which means that she is very tired. Her cognitive development, anchored in Piaget’s stages, allows her to grasp abstract phrasing and metaphorical language. In comparison, Megan, at 5 years old, is in early childhood and interprets statements more literally due to her cognitive and language development stage. She might have just started to appreciate simple jokes, but her understanding of idioms and colloquial expressions is still developing.
Children in early childhood like Megan are beginning to understand that people have different thoughts and feelings, but they may not yet fully grasp the non-literal language, as seen in the confusion between being tired (“I’m wiped out!”) and literally wiping something out. Middle childhood individuals like Shana can engage in more complex thoughts and understand that language is not always used literally. Hence, their communication reflects a more sophisticated comprehension of language nuances and idiomatic expressions.