without breaking. He and the other boys pulled on the figure's head to elongate it as far as it would stretch. The figure's neck, looking now more like a giraffe's, slowly shrank back to its original position, but not before giving the boys a good laugh. Greg's psychological development at this point is in keeping with Piaget's preoperational level of cognitive development. The older preoperational child, aged 5-7, is fascinated by concrete manipulations, leaving more intuitive challenges for later.
When it was time for the day's activities to begin, one of the teachers put on some music. It was peaceful background music, apparent, yet not distracting. The children put their toys away, and went to their (assigned?) seats. The children appeared to be reacting to a preconditioned stimulus--that of the music. Music seemed to mean, "Now let's begin the day's activities." The teacher brought out a large cardboard shoe, with enormous shoe laces that looked like ribbons. She mounted two shoes on the wall and told the children that the shoes were in the same position as they would be if they were on their feet. She then began to show the students how to tie the shoes--in seven steps. This was a good lesson for Greg today, since he needed to tie his shoes anyway.
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