egocentric ( g -s n tr k, g -) adj. Holding the view that the ego is the center, object, and norm of all experience. 2. Confined in attitude or interest to one's own needs or affairs. 3. Caring only about oneself.
(The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language).
Egocentric thought is an important part of a child's developing mind. Throughout a child's maturity, they go through varying degrees of egocentric thought that revolve around the accomplishments of that stages' major task. During the infancy stage the major task is the conquest of objects. Infants deal with objects and people they can see and ignore ones that they cannot. As they become mobile they learn to see out objects and deal with them. For preschoolers, the main task is conquering symbols. They are learning letters, numbers, colors and shapes- concrete things about their world. This is why geocentricism is so abundant in this age group. They think on one level: what they concretely know. Preschool children believe that adults know it all, but once they find that an adult has made an error, they believe that they know more than that adult. They feel adults are somewhat stupid and try to outwit them all the time. During the school-age years, the main challenge is relationships and applying their knowledge to new situations. Children now see things as a unit or group of concepts. They are learning about how to think through a problem and then solve it. At this age, they have the ability to think of alternatives but do not know how to act on them. As the child approaches adolescence they begin to rebel against their families and other authority figures. Children at this age begin to think that they have all the answers. Adolescence is the period where the challenge of formal operation begins. They are obsessed with conquering thought. Formal operations allow adolescents to construct all the possibilities and also construct outcomes different to the fact that is presented.
