The word 'egocentric' conjures up pictures of someone who is selfish, self-obsessed and likely to be unpleasant. Yet it is a word that is quite often used about young children. Is this fair? Are they really 'egocentric'
and if so, at what point does this begin to change?
To answer some these questions, it is worth looking to the child development theorist Jean Piaget, as it could be argued that his work has contributed to the widespread view of children being 'egocentric'.
Piaget and egocentrism
Children's thought processes and logic intrigued Piaget. His theory of cognitive development identified different stages in a child's thnking and it was in his descriptions of one of the stages that he used the term 'egocentrism'. He suggested that children's thoughts about their world were based on their direct experiences and that they were continually making connections about events in order to make sense of their world.
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