In Piaget’s view, the stage when children begin using symbols to represent…
2026
In Piaget’s view, the stage when children begin using symbols to represent objects is _____
Answer: C. Preoperational — ConceptPiaget calls the ability to let one thing stand for another the semiotic (symbolic) function: a word, a mental image or a substitute object is used as…
- A.
Sensorimotor
- B.
Concrete operational
- C.
Preoperational
- D.
Formal operational
Attempted by 21 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept
Piaget calls the ability to let one thing stand for another the semiotic (symbolic) function: a word, a mental image or a substitute object is used as a signifier for a referent that is not physically present.
In Piaget’s system this is not a small addition to thought. Its acquisition, at roughly 18–24 months, is the dividing line between his first two periods, because thought that can re-present an absent object is qualitatively different from thought tied to ongoing action.
Applying it to this question
The stem asks for the stage in which symbolic representation of objects begins. Piaget’s sequence is sensori-motor → preoperational → concrete operational → formal operational, and the second period is the one defined by precisely this achievement.
Piaget lists five representational behaviours as its signature:
deferred imitation — copying a model that is no longer in view
symbolic play — a stick is ridden as a horse, a box becomes a house
drawing — marks on paper made to stand for a thing
mental image — an internal picture of an absent object
verbal recall of events — words carrying what is not present
So the stage in which children begin using symbols to represent objects is the preoperational stage, roughly two to seven years of age.
Cross-check against the other stages
Stage | Approx. age | Defining achievement |
|---|---|---|
Sensori-motor | Birth – 2 yr | Knowing through action schemes and the senses; object permanence is built up; only in the sixth substage do the first mental images appear |
Preoperational | 2 – 7 yr | The semiotic function — symbols stand for absent objects; thought is still egocentric and centred on one dimension |
Concrete operational | 7 – 11 yr | Reversible operations on tangible material — conservation, class inclusion, seriation |
Formal operational | 11 yr onward | Hypothetico-deductive reasoning about propositions and possibilities |
The trap in the word “begin”
It is tempting to place symbol use in the sensori-motor period, because the first mental images and deferred imitation do appear in its sixth substage. Those are the precursors. For Piaget the point at which a child genuinely uses one thing to signify another is by definition the point at which the sensori-motor period ends and the preoperational period opens — which is why the preoperational stage, and not the one before it, answers this stem.