It was initially believed that young children could not understand other people's points of view or undertake tasks such as counting and measuring until they were at least seven years of age. However, it seems the problem does not lie in children's capacity to do these things so much as in their understanding of what is being asked and why. If there is no obvious purpose or they do not understand the language used, children find tasks difficult. Even young children can perform tasks formerly considered too advanced for them, as long as these are set up in ways that make sense to them. Problems that involve teddies or drinks, for example, may be meaningful to a very young child, whereas tasks with counters and beakers.