During which stage of Piaget's cognitive development do children gain mental operations that allow logical thinking about concrete events?

The correct answer refers to the Concrete Operational stage of Piaget's cognitive development theory, which spans from approximately ages 7 to 11. During this stage, children begin to develop logical thinking processes and can perform operations mentally rather than just physically. This means they can better understand the concept of conservation—realizing that quantity doesn’t change even when its shape does—and they can categorize objects based on multiple criteria.

Additionally, children in this stage are also able to engage in more complex comparisons, understand relationships between different elements, and recognize the permanence of certain characteristics of objects. This marks a significant transition from the previous Preoperational stage, where thinking is more intuitive and egocentric, and children struggle with understanding others' perspectives.

The Formal Operational stage, which follows the Concrete Operational stage, involves more advanced abstract and hypothetical thinking that is not necessarily tied to concrete experiences. The Sensorimotor stage, which occurs earlier, focuses primarily on infants interacting with their environment through sensory and motor actions, without yet developing the ability to think logically about concrete events.