Negative Stereotypes Of Children After The Preschool Life Stage

The preschool life stage is one of the most interesting life stages to study. During this life stage, a child turns from a walking toddler to a child that can perform basic arithmetic calculations and begin to learn how to write words. However, the process of learning does not come without challenges. The three main characteristic challenges of children undergoing this life stage are egocentrism, centration, and appearance as reality. Many examples in the media show children in their preoperational stages, and many of these examples are often stereotyped.
In the textbook, “appearance as reality” is defined as a form of preoperational thinking, in which children have the notion that whatever the object looks like is the definition of the object’s identity. In the Angel Soft commercial, the child must be undergoing “potty
This may cause some people to get an impression that preschool-aged children do not have a high level of cognition, when in fact, they are going through a preoperational phase. The Teddy Ruxpin commercial made a very accurate portrayal of animism; however, I would have added more life-like properties to Teddy Ruxpin (i.e. body motions/movements), so that the children can fully appreciate the teddy bear as a living animal.
Egocentrism, centration, and appearance as reality are three weaknesses that children have during the preoperational period. When preschool children are seen in the media, the media often stereotypes them. The reasoning for the stereotypes is that the preschool children are challenged with day-to-day activities, because of their cognitive shortcomings. The preoperational process is necessary to advance to the concrete and formal operational periods, which eventually leads to a mature