THE QUESTION OF CHILDHOOD EGOCENTRISM: THE CO‐ORDINATION OF PERSPECTIVES IN RELATION TO OPERATIONAL THINKING

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Abstract
SUMMARY: To what extent is the concept of ‘childhood egocentrism’ valid? Piaget presents an account in which a child's ability to appreciate different points of view is intimately related to his capacity for operational thought. To examine this hypothesis, children aged from 3 to 7 years were presented with tasks requiring the co‐ordination of visuo‐spatial perspectives, and tests of operational thinking. Subjects in the pre‐operational stage demonstrated an ability to co‐ordinate viewpoints, but found certain forms of visuo‐spatial problem relatively difficult. The significance of this for the concept of egocentrism and the analysis of role‐taking is considered.