Certified Pediatric Nurse Exam Practice 2025 – Complete Study Resource

The pre-operational stage is characterized by significant advancements in a child's ability to engage in symbolic thinking and understand concepts, but they still rely heavily on intuition and subjective experiences. A 4-year-old demonstrating factual answers about expected behaviors indicates that the child is beginning to grasp certain social norms and rules, which are foundations of cognitive development within this stage.

At this age, children start using language more effectively, can engage in make-believe play, and begin to understand the difference between reality and fantasy. They are learning how to navigate social interactions and norms, suggesting a developing capability to articulate behavioral expectations. However, their reasoning is still largely egocentric, and they may struggle with understanding perspectives that differ from their own.

The other stages do not align as closely with the described behavior. The concrete operational stage follows the pre-operational stage and is associated with children aged 7 to 11, who can think logically about concrete events, understand the concept of conservation, and organize objects into categories but are not yet capable of abstract thought. The formal operational stage introduces abstract and hypothetical thinking typically in adolescents, while the sensorimotor stage encompasses infancy where children primarily learn through sensory experiences and motor activities. Thus, the understanding of factual behavior expectations at age