According to Piaget, what is a key characteristic of the concrete operational stage?

In the concrete operational stage, typically occurring between the ages of 7 and 11, children develop logical reasoning skills but are still limited to thinking about concrete, tangible concepts rather than abstract ideas. A key characteristic of this stage is that children begin to understand and follow rules, which reflects their evolving cognitive abilities. They can perform operations on concrete objects and are able to classify, seriate, and can understand the concept of conservation, meaning they grasp that quantity doesn't change even when its shape does. However, their thinking is not yet abstract; they cannot easily engage with hypothetical situations or think about the future in complex ways. This limitation is what aligns with the characteristic of being rule-oriented and unable to engage in abstract thinking.