During infancy, which term describes the idea that infants view themselves as the center of their universe?

During infancy, which term describes the idea that infants view themselves as the center of their universe?

• A. Egocentrism
• B. Conservation
• C. Reversibility
• D. Animism

Answer: (A)

Egocentrism describes the tendency to view the world from one’s own perspective and assume others share that viewpoint. In infancy, thinking is centered on immediate sensations and needs, and young children haven’t yet learned to take another person’s perspective. So they behave as if they are the center of the universe, expecting others to see things the same way they do. The other terms refer to different cognitive ideas that develop later or in different contexts: conservation involves understanding that quantity stays the same despite changes in appearance, reversibility is the ability to mentally reverse actions, and animism is treating inanimate objects as if they have life—patterns that appear later in early childhood rather than in infancy.

Egocentrism describes the tendency to view the world from one’s own perspective and assume others share that viewpoint. In infancy, thinking is centered on immediate sensations and needs, and young children haven’t yet learned to take another person’s perspective. So they behave as if they are the center of the universe, expecting others to see things the same way they do. The other terms refer to different cognitive ideas that develop later or in different contexts: conservation involves understanding that quantity stays the same despite changes in appearance, reversibility is the ability to mentally reverse actions, and animism is treating inanimate objects as if they have life—patterns that appear later in early childhood rather than in infancy.