What Is Sensorimotor Stage

Jane Haynes

2 min read

·

06-12-2024

17

0

Share

The sensorimotor stage is the first stage of cognitive development in Piaget's theory of cognitive development. It spans from birth to approximately two years of age, a period of significant growth and learning for infants. During this crucial time, infants understand the world primarily through their senses (seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling) and their actions (sucking, grasping, reaching, and looking).

Key Characteristics of the Sensorimotor Stage

This stage is characterized by several key developments:

• Reflexes: Newborns begin with innate reflexes, such as sucking and grasping. These reflexes form the foundation for later, more complex actions.

• Circular Reactions: Infants repeat actions that produce pleasurable or interesting results. These are initially primary circular reactions, focusing on the infant's own body (e.g., repeatedly sucking their thumb). Later, they develop secondary circular reactions, involving actions on objects in the environment (e.g., repeatedly shaking a rattle to hear the sound).

• Object Permanence: A critical milestone is the development of object permanence – the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight. This usually emerges towards the end of the sensorimotor stage, around 8-12 months of age. Before this, infants act as if objects cease to exist when they are no longer perceived.

• Mental Representation: Towards the end of the sensorimotor stage, infants begin to develop mental representations, enabling them to think about objects and events even when they are not present. This allows for symbolic thought and problem-solving. For instance, an infant might search for a hidden toy, demonstrating an understanding of its continued existence.

Substages of the Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget further divided the sensorimotor stage into six substages, each reflecting increasing complexity in the infant's cognitive abilities:

1. Reflexes (0-1 month): The infant's behavior is dominated by reflexes.

2. Primary Circular Reactions (1-4 months): The infant begins to repeat actions that involve their own body.

3. Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months): The infant repeats actions that involve objects in the environment.

4. Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions (8-12 months): The infant begins to combine actions to achieve goals (e.g., pushing an object aside to reach another). Object permanence starts to develop.

5. Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months): The infant experiments with different actions to see what happens (e.g., dropping a toy from different heights).

6. Mental Representation (18-24 months): The infant develops the ability to form mental representations, leading to symbolic thought and problem-solving.

Limitations of Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage Theory

While influential, Piaget's theory has faced some criticism. Some researchers argue that infants may develop object permanence and other abilities earlier than Piaget suggested. Furthermore, the stage-like nature of his theory has been questioned, with some suggesting that development is more continuous and gradual. Nevertheless, the sensorimotor stage remains a valuable framework for understanding the early cognitive development of infants.