Question

A girl can walk upstairs, alternating feet, and make a tower of 8 cubes. She refers to herself by the pronoun 'I', knows her name, but not her age and gender. The most likely chronological age is

• A. 24 months
• B. 30 months
• C. 36 months
• D. 42 months

Hint:

Notice which skills she already has and which ones, like knowing her age and gender, she has not reached yet.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

This question wants us to line up a cluster of skills with the right point on a developmental timeline. Let's look at each age option in turn.

1. 24 months: At this age a toddler usually climbs stairs one step at a time while holding a rail, without swapping feet, and can only stack about 6 to 7 cubes. Since our child already alternates feet and stacks 8 cubes, she has moved past this stage.
2. 30 months: Here children start alternating feet going upstairs, though downstairs still needs both feet per step, can build a tower of roughly 8 cubes, and begin using pronouns such as I, me, and you. This lines up closely with the child in the question, who alternates feet upstairs, stacks 8 cubes, and calls herself 'I'.
3. 36 months: By this age children alternate feet both up and down stairs, and crucially they now know their own age and gender. Our child does not yet know these two things, so she has not reached this stage.
4. 42 months: This stage builds further on 36 month skills, so it fits even less well, since our child is missing milestones that appear earlier at 36 months.

The skills she has already gained point past 24 months, and the skills she is still missing, knowing her age and gender, rule out 36 and 42 months. That leaves the 30 month stage as the best match.

Let's summarize:

• Alternating feet upstairs and an 8 cube tower appear around 30 months.
• Knowing one's own age and gender is a 36 month milestone, which this child has not reached.

So the most likely chronological age of this child is 30 months.