Arizona Educator Proficiency Assessments (AEPA) Practice Exam 2025 - Free AEPA Practice Questions and Study Guide

During the concrete operational stage, which typically occurs between the ages of 7 and 11, children develop the ability to perform mental operations on concrete events. This means they can manipulate and transform information mentally rather than just physically. They become capable of logical thought processes, such as understanding conservation (the idea that quantity doesn’t change even when its shape does), categorizing objects, and following sequential steps in problem-solving.

Children in this stage are not yet ready to handle abstract reasoning or hypothetical situations effectively, which is why options related to understanding abstract concepts or using hypothetical reasoning are not characteristic of this developmental phase. Additionally, while children may have been egocentric in the earlier preoperational stage, the concrete operational stage marks a shift towards understanding different perspectives. Thus, the ability to perform mental operations on tangible, concrete information is the defining characteristic of this developmental stage.