Development of logical thinking

The first stage in a child's development of thought, when the ego is projected into inanimate objects, such as playing with a stick and calling it a horse, is referred to by Kasanin as [physiognomonic]

thinking and by Piaget as [syncretic]

thinking. The next stage, where words are used to describe a specific object, but not generalized, is referred to as [concrete]

thinking. Here the word "table" refers to a particular table but not to all tables in general. Following some degree of education and experience, after adolescence, comes [abstract]

or [categoried]

thinking, when abstract and generalized thought is said to appear.