Derek, a 4-year-old boy, is curious by nature and exhausts his parents with "why" questions. However, he is not able to comprehend ideas. His imagination does not resemble reality. Whenever he sees a rainbow, he believes that a fairy has painted it with watercolors. In the context of cognitive development in early childhood, this scenario illustrates

Intuitive Stage of Preoperational Stage.

Explanation:

According to Jean Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory, this stage which is defined in the excerpt can be categorized in the Intuitive Stage of Preoperational Stage of Cognitive Development.

According to Piaget's theory, this is the second stage of a child's development. This stage occurs at the age of 2-7.

This stage is sub-divided in two stages:

Pre conceptual (2-4) Intuitive Stage (4-7)

In this intuitive stage, the child learns by asking questions such as 'why?' and they begin to characterize things according to their preconceived notions and ideas.

So, the correct answer is Intuitive Substage of Preoperational Stage.

Answer: Preoperational Stage

Explanation:

Cognitive development have different stages which includes the one describing the scenario above. It could be that Derek, his situation illustrates the "Preoperational Stage" where a child is not yet able to conceptualize things abstractly.

He is also showing curiosity.