Egocentrism and Animistic Thinking
Isn’t it funny how children think non-living objects, like cars, grass, or a toy have living qualities and behave just like humans? This thought process usually happens through the preoperational stage, or when a child is about 2-7 years old. These children often may think the sun is shy if the weather is cloudy, or a parent could easily convince the child the TV is tired and has to be turned off. This way of thinking, or believing inanimate objects have lifelike qualities, is called animistic thinking, and, according to Piaget, is a result of the Preoperational child’s egocentrism.
Our book defines egocentrism as “the failure to distinguish others’ symbolic viewpoints from one’s own.” In other words, children can’t put themselves in someone else’s shoes, and believe everyone else thinks exactly as they do. This means seeing things from another’s viewpoint is actually a developed ability. In order to prove a chid’s egocentrism, Piaget set up his three-mountains problem, where he set up a small and medium sized mountiain in front of a large mountain. Because it appeared as three mountains to a child looking at the mountinas from the front, a child in the preoperational stage would say looking at the mountains would look identical from the opposite side, although in reality it would only appear as one large mountain.
This egocentrism also leads young children to think non-living objects think, feel, and act just like humans, or think in an animistic way. Animistic thinking explains why children think the sun can be shy or the TV can be tired; and can prove quite useful to parents looking for a simple explanation to give to this especially inquisitive group of children. Piaget further linked animistic thinking and egocentrism when he discovered that even though children of this age can distinguish between living and non-living objects, they still assign these inanimate objects humanisitc qualities. It is also interesting to note that when children cannot explain an event, they attribute the event to magic, although the belief in the supernatural is “flexible and appropriate,” and is assigned only when needed.
It is easy to see that magical and animistic thinking can be detrimental to accommodation, as the unexplained can simply be categorized in the “it’s just magic” schema. However, this thinking can also be helpful to children so they don’t get extremely overwhelmed by what they don’t know. It can also be helpful to parents, as discussed earlier. Although egocentric and animistic thinking eventually becomes less common as a child continues to develop and learn, it is important in understanding the way a child thinks and how this thinking affects their consequent actions.
Berk, Child Development Eighth Edition