Describe the cognitive abilities and limitations of preoperational children.

Although children in this stage still show confusion between symbols and the objects they represent, they are beginning to understand how their own minds work. In addition, children are beginning to use symbols to represent objects. This is necessary for the development of language. Children in this stage are beginning to engage in symbolic or "pretend" play, which demonstrates advancements in the ability to imagine. Preschool-aged children are highly egocentric, assuming that others think the same things they do. They are still unable to understand conservation tasks because they still show one-dimensional thinking. They are likely to display animism (in which thoughts and feelings are attributed to inanimate objects) and artificialism (such as believing that people create thunder).