Cognitive Development during late childhood
This is a period of rapid mental development. The child acquires a new interest in studies and he takes pride in the increase of his knowledge. His sphere of interests is also widened and he likes to meet people, converse and discuss with them on various types of topics. This naturally leads to his further mental development.
According to Piaget, the late childhood is the stage of concrete operations. He says that as soon as children reach the end of the pre-operational stage, children begin to understand the principle of conservation.
Conservation is the ability to recognise the basic attributes of an object such as number or weight, to remain the same even when the appearance of the object is changed.
At this stage, geocentricism is diluted. Now, the child communicates with others, compares others’ points of view with his own and takes decision after some thought. At this stage, spirit of cooperation and competition can be developed.
