In Piaget's stages of development, what does concrete operational reasoning involve?

Concrete operational reasoning, which is the third stage in Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, typically occurs between the ages of 7 and 11. During this stage, children begin to think logically about concrete events and can perform operations that require the manipulation of concrete objects and the understanding of their properties. Their thinking becomes more organized and systematic compared to the preceding stage of preoperational thought, where children's thinking is more egocentric and lacks logical consistency.

In concrete operational reasoning, children can understand the concept of conservation (the understanding that quantity doesn’t change despite changes in shape), classify objects based on several characteristics, and organize them in a logical manner. They can also comprehend mathematical operations like addition and subtraction, as long as the operations involve tangible items rather than abstract concepts.

The other options do not accurately capture the essence of concrete operational reasoning. For instance, abstract thinking is characteristic of the formal operational stage, which follows the concrete operational stage. Limited understanding of physical concepts or reliance solely on sensory experiences does not define this stage either, as children in the concrete operational stage begin to apply logic and reasoning to the physical world around them rather than depending strictly on perception or sensory input.