- seek stimuli 
- get used to familiar stimuli 
- responds more actively to different stimuli 
- start to be able to differentiate between familiar and different stimuli
- responses are more reflexive, like sucking and grasping
- able to follow a slow horizontal arc 
- able to follow past the midline (later on in the stage)
- prefers looking at contrast, colors, and faces
- develops a preference for caregiver's facial features
- does not understand lack of object permanence. 

Piaget's Sensorimotor Developmental Substage: 0-2 Months 

- 0-2 months
- 2-6 months
- 6-12 months
- 12-18 months
- 18-24 months


San Jose State University

The sensorimotor stage, occurring from birth to approximately 2 years of age, is the initial phase in Piaget's theory. During this period, children primarily learn about their environment through sensory experiences and motor activities. For instance, they might explore objects by putting them in their mouths to check for edibility or by shaking and banging them to discover the sounds they produce. A key cognitive milestone of this stage is the development of object permanence.

Sensorimotor Developmental Stage

Malik F, Marwaha R. Cognitive Development. [Updated 2020 Aug 18]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537095/

Cognitive Development (2020). Malik & Marwaha

Substages of the Sensorimotor Developmental Stage

- uses movements and sensations to know world
- uses sucking, grasping, looking, and listening
- object permanence
- realizes they are separate from other beings
- realizes that their actions cause things to happen

Sensorimotor Stage Characteristics

Contrary to Piaget's theory that object understanding develops slowly through physical interaction, modern research suggests this cognitive skill emerges much earlier. Developmental psychologists have found that infants can comprehend objects and their properties long before having direct experience, indicating an innate understanding that challenges Piaget's proposed timeline for the sensorimotor stage.

Critique of Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage: Early Object Understanding

In a key study demonstrating early object knowledge, researcher Renée Baillargeon presented 3-month-old infants with an 'impossible event' where a toy truck appeared to roll unimpeded through a solid box blocking its path. The infants gazed significantly longer at this impossible scenario compared to a possible one, leading researchers to conclude that the infants understood solid objects cannot pass through each other, even without prior physical experience.

Baillargeon's Impossible Event Experiment

Based on the case study below, explain what the infant is learning about the world and why this specific method of exploration is the primary way infants understand their environment during the first two years of life.

Infant Learning and Exploration

Analyze the following scenario. Explain how the infant's actions demonstrate the primary method of learning characteristic of the first two years of life. Additionally, identify the specific cognitive milestone the infant displays at the end of the interaction.

Learn Before

Related

Learn After