Which statement correctly defines polymorphism in OOP?

Polymorphism is a fundamental concept in object-oriented programming (OOP) that enables objects of different classes to be treated as objects of a common superclass. This is significant because it allows for one interface to be used for a general class of actions, with specific behavior determined by the actual object's class at runtime. For example, if you have a superclass called Animal with a method speak(), and subclasses like Dog and Cat that override the speak() method, polymorphism allows you to call speak() on both a Dog object and a Cat object without knowing their specific types at compile time. This capability enhances flexibility and the ability to extend systems, as new classes can be introduced without affecting the existing code, provided they adhere to the established interface.

The other options do not accurately capture the essence of polymorphism. While inheritance is a part of OOP, it specifically relates to the class hierarchy and does not define polymorphism. Also, if an object manipulates its own class attributes, it's simply utilizing its properties, not demonstrating polymorphism. Furthermore, while polymorphism is important in OOP, it is not a requirement for all object-oriented languages, as some languages may not