Which term describes the tendency of a child in the preoperational stage to focus on one aspect of a phenomenon?

The correct term that describes the tendency of a child in the preoperational stage to focus on one aspect of a phenomenon is centricity. Preoperational children, according to Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, often struggle with understanding multiple dimensions of a problem or situation simultaneously. Instead, they tend to fixate on a single feature, neglecting other relevant aspects. This characteristic is evident in various scenarios, such as when a child focuses solely on the height of a container when determining which holds more liquid, rather than considering both height and width.

This ability to focus on one salient feature while ignoring others—what is known as centricity—highlights a limitation in cognitive processing during this developmental stage. By contrast, egocentrism refers to a child's difficulty in seeing things from perspectives other than their own, while conservation involves understanding that certain physical properties remain constant despite changes in form or appearance. Literal thinking refers to taking information at face value without nuance. Although these concepts are related to cognitive development, they describe different phenomena than centricity.