Arizona Educator Proficiency Assessments (AEPA) 2026 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The correct answer is logical thinking, as this cognitive ability is significantly less developed during the preoperational stage according to Piaget's theory of cognitive development. In this stage, which occurs roughly between the ages of 2 and 7, children are characterized by their ability to engage in symbolic play and learn to manipulate symbols, but their thought processes are not yet able to incorporate a logical or systematic approach to problem-solving.

Children in the preoperational stage often rely on intuition and experience rather than logical reasoning. For example, they may struggle with tasks involving conservation, which is the understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or arrangement. This illustrates their difficulties in performing logical operations on the information at hand, which logically fall outside of their thought processes.

The other cognitive abilities mentioned, such as abstract reasoning, spatial recognition, and numerical understanding, may still be emerging, but logical thinking is particularly hindered during this developmental stage. Children might be able to recognize numbers or engage with spatial tasks at a basic level, but the coherent and consistent application of logic in their reasoning is what sets the preoperational stage apart, making logical thinking a hallmark of cognitive immaturity in this phase.