Reference no: EM132485947

What are the characteristics of preoperational thought illustrated in each of these items?

1. Following an especially heated argument with an elderly relative, you shout that you would like nothing better than to have him get out of your life for good. Several days later your relative dies, leaving you feeling intensely guilty that you caused his death.

2. Your roommate complains that you are a sucker for deceptive packaging in the grocery store because you always choose taller bottles and cans over shorter, wider ones.

3. A friend from high school started an Internet business several years ago and has become one of the wealthiest, most successful entrepreneurs in the nation. Whenever you see her, you talk about her business ventures and fantasize about her material success, imagining her house, her car, her hired help. ("What must it be like to live in such luxury" is the way you put it.)

4. One day you learn that this same wealthy friend has become active in a community organization that serves the mentally challenged and their parents. You are told that her work with mentally challenged children consumes most of her weekends and a substantial part of her income and that she lives in modest circumstances. You find this hard to believe, and you suspect that somehow she is profiting from her involvement.